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ADDRESS 



DELIVERED ON OCCASION OF 



Eeriteririial#£elebrati0ri 



OF THE 



TOWN OF MERRIMACK, N. H. 

April 2, 1846. 

REY. gTEPHEN T. nhhW- 



Rc-Prlnted by Vote of the Town March 14, 1899. 



1901 : 

American Folding Box Co., Book, Card and Label Printers, 

NASHUA, N. H. 






ADDRESS 



DELIVERED ON OCCASION OF 



Eeritennial * Eelebratieri 



OF THE 



TOWN OF MERRIMACK, N. H. 

April 2, 1846. 

REV. 3TEPHEN T.TILjLEN. 



Re-Printed by Vote of the Town March 14, 1899. 



1901 : 
\ American Folding Box Co., Book, Card and Isabel Printers, 

NASHUA, N. H. 



ADDRESS, 



In one of the favorite volumes of Sir Walter Scott he has introduced 
a personage that invariably awakens the interest and wins the esteem 
of all classes of readers. He is represented as going about from place 
to place in Scotland, visiting the graveyards, and with pious care 
repairing and replacing the monuments of the departed, — rubbing off 
the moss that centuries have gathered upon the headstones of the 
covenanters and other countless dead, and with his mallet and chisel 
cutting anew the inscriptions that "Times effacing fingeis" have 
almost obliterated, — thus snatching from oblivion and handing down 
to generations to come the memory of those who are worthy to live in 
everlasting fame. That personage is '■'■ Old Mortality.'''' 

What he is represented as doing for the by gone generations in the 
land of Bruce, we, fellow citizens, have this day assembled to perform 
for those who have gone before us in the occupancy of the soil whereon 
we now dwell. After the lapse of a century since the incorporation of 
our town, we come together to unfold the venerable record of our 
fathers' history, to reeiew the scenes through which they passed, to 
look upon the spots where first they felled the ancient forest trees, and 
erected their humble log dw^ellings, and to witness in the chang*^ 
which a century has effected, the products of their toil, the monuments 
of their prudent foresight, and the evidences of their self-forgetting 
care for the welfare of their descendants. 

But the history of those towns that lie in the beautiful valleys of our 
rivers is far from being complete, when it goes no farther back than 



probably in a direct line to Patucket, which, by reason of the bend in 
the river, would be much nearer. But Mr. Elliot's contemplated route 
lay along the west side, which, in going to Namaske, took him 
through the territory of the Souhegan Indians. 

Whether that excellent man ever afterwards accomplished a tour to 
this region, we are not informed ; but it is by no means improbable 
that he did, for in the same letter he says that Passaconaway, who was 
the Sachem of all the tribes that dwelt in the valley of the Merrimack, 
along its whole length, and was called the Merrimack Sachem, or more 
commonly the Great Sachem, joined in the importunity of the Souhe- 
gans and urged him to come up. The letter adds : "This man did 
this year show very great affection to me, and to the word of God. 
He did exceeding earnestly and importunately invite me to come and 
live there [Patucket] and teach them. He used many arguments, 
many whereof I have forgotten, but this was one, that my coming but 
once a year did them but little good, because they soon forgot what I 
had taught." 

We cannot but remark in passing, that this shrewd Indian chief, 
himself brought up in the rudest barbarism, and but just brought into 
contact with civilization, showed himself on this occasion decidedly 
in favor of a permanent ministry. 

It was the custom of Mr. Elliot, for many years, to go to Patucket 
in the Spring, whither the Indians from all the region round about 
assembled, to catch fish. The great gathering afforded the missionary 
a favorable opportunity to spread his net and fish for souls. It was a 
like motive that induced him to project a tour to Namaske. 

The passing remark which he makes concerning the Souhegans is an 



chusetts Assembly Records — Massachusetts Legislative Records — Penhallow's Indian 
Wars — Drake's Indian Anecdotes — Collections of New Hampshire Historical Society 
— Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society — Allen's History of Chelmsford — 
Proprietory Records of Brenton Lands — Farmer's Gazetteer — Belknap's and Bars- 
tow's Histories of New Hampshire. 

I take pleasure, also, in acknowledging my obligations to Mrs. Charles J. Fox, of 
Nashville, for the privilege of consulting a manuscript History of Dunstable, by her 
late husband — to Rev. Mr. Felt, of Boston, for his polite attentions at the rooms of 
the Historical Society — to the Secretary of State, for free access to the archives of the 
State of Massachusetts — to Rev. Mr. Bouton, of Concord, for facilities at the rooms 
of the New Hampshire Historical Society — to the town clerks of Merrimack and 
Litchfield, and to many of the elder citizens, for their ready assistance. 



item in the history of our own town of no little interest. We feel a 
pleasure in knowing that they who lived here two hundred years ago 
had the discernment to appreciate intellectual and moral worth, and 
that they were deeply interested in hearing and knowing more of tlie 
gospel. 

The character of Passaconaway, their great chief, also, forms a part 
of our early history, for I shall show that it is more than probable that 
for a while he himself lived in this town. He had his headquarters a 
considerable time at Pennacook, — now Concord, — where there was a 
large tribe of that name, subject to his sway. 

But in 1662 he petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for a 
grant of land which he might hold in his own right and possession. 
In reference to this the entry on the records of the court is as follows : 

" In answer to the petition of Passaconaway, this court judgeth it 
meet to grant to the said Passaconaway, and his men or associates, 
about Naticook, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile 
and a half on either side of the Merrimack River in breadth, and three 
miles on either side in length, provided he nor they do not alienate 
any part of this grant without leave or license from this court first 
obtained." 

The boundaries of this grant are somewhat indefinitely stated, as 
were most of the grants in this region, at that period. But it lay next 
above Naticook, and must have included, on this side of the River, 
what is now the northerly part of Merrimack. 

[n connection with the fact of this grant, let it be remembered that 
the tribe at Pennacook, in an expedition against the Mohawks, — a 
fierce and savage tribe from New York, — was broken up, a large pro- 
portion of them being slain. The remainder united with the Wame- 
sits, near Patucket, and htcd^me praying Indians. 

May we not without presumption infef, that in this condition of 
things, Passaconaway took up his abode on the territory which had 
been granted to him for a retreat, and that here, among the Souhegans 
and near by the Naticooks, he spent the closing years of his life? 
That he left Pennacook is evident. If he went elsewhere than to this 
place we have seen no statement of the fact. Where else would he be 
so likely to go as on to his own possessions? 

Here, then, we may imagine that this great and noble chieftain held 
his court. With rude splendor, and bounteous profusion, he here 
maintained the dignity of his rank. 



" His reputation for wisdom and cunning was celebrated among all 
the eastern Indians. Nor was he less renowned for his pacific spirit 
toward the white settlers. He was ever for peace. He had almost 
unbounded influence over the Indians. They believed that he had 
secret intercourse with the mysteries of nature; that it was in his power 
to make water burn, and the trees dance. Tiiey supposed that he had 
power to change himself into flame, and that he could darken the sun 
and moon. " 

In consequence of these supposed attributes, the Indians looked 
upon him with wonder and veneration. 

In 1660 they held a great dance and feast. On such occasions the 
elderly men, in songs and speeches, recite their histories, and deliver 
their sentiments and advice, to the younger. At this solemnity, Pas- 
saconaway was present, and made his farewell speech to his children. 

The wairiors and the chiefs were gathered from all the tribes, and 
sat reverently to hear the last words of their, great father. Passacona- 
way was gifted in all the natural eloquence of the Indian. He was 
deeply affected, and spoke as a dying man to the dying. 

He described the happy hunting grounds, once theirs, with the 
stores offish and animals which the Great Spirit had made for his red 
children ; and placed in mournful contrast their past independence 
and power with their present weakness and decay. 

He explained the superior power of the white men, and told the 
Indians plainly that the day would come when the English would be 
the tenants of all the pleasant lands of their fathers. He prophesied 
that a war would shortly break out all over the country, and that it 
was only by standing aloof Irom it that they could hope to preserve a 
small seat, so that they might not be beggars in the pleasant places of 
their birth. 

" Hearken," said he, " to the last words of your father and friend. 
The white men are the sons of the morning. The Great Spirit is their 
father. His sun shines bright upon them. Never make war with 
them. Surely as you light the fires, the breath of heaven will turn the 
flame on you and destroy you. Listen to my advice. It is the last I 
shall be allowed to give you. Remember it, and live." 

He sat down. A cloud of sorrow passed over his brow. The Indi- 
ans remained sometime musing in silence upon his words. His speech 
deeply excited them during the recital. His venerable appearance? 
his plaintive tones and sad expressions, moved them with tender emo- 



tions. When he drew the picture of their melancholy decay, and 
compared them to the snows of winter dissolving in spring time, the 
Indians bowed their heads and gave way to loud lamentations. 

The precise time of this chieftain's death is not known, but he lived 
to be more than one hundred and twenty years of age. 

His eldest son and successor in the chieftainship was Wannalancet, 
who seems to have inherited many of the noble qualities of his father. 
Mr. Gookin, in his history of the Indians, describes a visit which he, 
in company with Mr. Elliot, made to Patucket, in the spring of 1674. 

He says, that at that time Wannalancet was a sober and grave per- 
sonage, between fifty and sixty years of age. He was always loving 
and friendly to the English, but was for a long time unwilling to 
receive Christianity. A great reason for his aversion was supposed 
to be the indis[)Osition of sundry of his chief men and relatives, who, he 
foresaw, would desert him in case he turned to Christianity. He had 
consented to hear preaching and keep the Sabbath previous to this time. 

We arrived at Patucket on the 5th of May. Wannalancet at this 
time lived here, and had erected a fort on the heights southeast of the 
fjUs. Hither, too, the Indians from all the neighboring tribes had 
again assembled to fish. On the evening of our arrival Mr. Elliot 
preached in the wigwam of Wannalancet, from the parable of the mar- 
riage of the king's son, Matt. 22 : 1-14. On the next day Mr. Elliot 
proposed to him to give his answer concerning praying to God. He 
stood up, and after some deliberation and serious pause, made a speech 
to this effect : 

" Sirs, you have been pleased, for years past, in your abundant love, 
to apply yourselves particularly unto me and my people ; to exhort, 
press, and persuade us to pray to God. I am very thankful to you for 
your i)ains. I must acknowledge I have all my days been used to pass 
in an old canoe, and now you exhort me to change and leave my old 
canoe and emberk in a new one, to which I have hitherto been unwil- 
ling ; but now I yield myself to your advice, and enter into a new 
canoe, and do engage to pray to God hereafter." 

He was told, " that it may be while he went in liis old canoe, he 
passed in a quiet stream ; but the end thereof would be death and 
destruction to soul and body. But now he went into a new canoe, 
perhaps he would meet with storms and trials, but yet he should 
be encouraged to persevere, for the end of his voyage would be ever- 
lasting rest." 



lO 

"Since that time I liear this Sachem doth persevere, and is a dili- 
gent and constant hearer of God's word and sanctifieth the Sabbath." 

He was always peaceable and true to the English. In the time of 
King Philip's war, he rendered very great service to the white settlers, 
by espousing their cause and by notifying them of tlie intended attacks 
of the hostile tribes. 

The Indians who dwelt in the valley of the Merrimack, were always 
disposed to be on friendly terms with the English settlers. Acting 
from their natural impulses, they were frank and confiding. They 
received with a kind welcome, the little band of emigrants that were des- 
tined to supplant them. They might have exterrninated the intruders 
with a blow, and continued in the quiet possession of their hunting 
grounds, and of their noble river, which they enthusiastically loved. 
But they looked not to consequences. They understood not the forces 
that were against them, when civilization, with its mighty energies, 
came in conflict with barbarism. Alas ! they have long ago entirely 
disappeared from these their jjleasant places. Their venerated river 
continues its flow; their favorite rocks and fishing places are 
here; the hills where they i)ursued the deer, and the valleys where 
they built their wigwams, remain; but all else, — how changed! To 
use one of their own figures, they have melted away like the snows in 
spring time. Their memorials, too, are fast fading from amongst us. 
Here and there the pluugli-share turns up an arrow-head or other relic, 
but these will all soon disappear. 

In 1689 the first war with the French, known as King William's 
war, broke out between France and England. The French Jesuits 
that infested Canada were at this time active in wakening the prejudice 
of all the Indian tribes against the English settlers. By various arts 
and slanderous representations, they inflamed the hatred and hostility 
of the Indians to the hii^hest pitch, and the history of all frontier 
towns during the succeeding thirty years, in which time barbarism and 
civilization were each struggling with a frightful desperation, is but a 
succession of the most revolting cruelties and massacres, which, for a 
time, seemed to threaten the extermination of the white settlers. 

This hostile attitude of the Indians, in all parts of New England, 
prevented the English from extending their settlements back into 
the country, as they would otherwise have done. They were obliged 
for the sake of safety, to remain as compact as possible, and to keep 
themselves continually in an attitude of defence. 



ii 

The old township of Dunstable, including Nashua, Nashville, DuH- 
stable, Holhs, Hudson, Tyngsborough, and portions of the towns of 
Amherst, Milford, Merrimack, 1-itchfield and Londonderry, began to 
be settled in some places as early as 1673, and daring the long period 
of Indian hosMlities, to which allusion has been made, these pioneer 
settlers were exposed to almost incredible dangers and hardships. 
The story of their adventures, "with its startling romance and stern 
realities," would afford an instructive topic, as showing at what an 
expense of suffering and of blood our fathers purchased the domain 
which has fallen to us in quiet possession. 

And inasmuch as all that portion of Merrimack which lies south of 
the Souhtgan River was formerly included in the Dunstable town- 
ship, I should be justified in drawing some materials from such a 
source. But I have been spared that labor. 

A late gifted and now lamented citiien of Nashville,* has, with 
patient research and great accuracy, compiled a history of that town- 
ship, which is now in the press, and will soon be given to the jniblic. 
As this will be read by all who would possess a familiar knowle.lge on 
these points, I shall pass them. 

Col. E. Bancroft, of Tyngsboro', has related very minutely the j ar- 
ticulars of a tragic adventure of those time?, the scene of which was in 
Merrimac k, near Thornton's Ferry : 

"On the 4th of September, 1724, the Indians fell on Dunstable, in 
the evening, and took two captive. The persons taken were Nathan 
Cross and Thomas Blanchard, who had been engaged in the manufac- 
ture of turpentine, on the north side of Nashua river, where Nashua 
village now stands. At that time there were no houses or settlements 
on that side of the river. These men had been in the habit of return- 
ing every night, to lodge in a saw mill on the other side. That night 
they came not, as usual. An alarm was given ; it was feared they had 
fallen into the hands of the Indians. A party, consisting of ten of the 
principal inhabitants of the place, started in search of them, under the 
direction of one French, a sergeant of militia. In this company was 
Farwell, who was, the next year, lieutenant under Lovewell. When 
they arrived at the spot where the men -had been laboring, they found 
the hoops of the barrel cut, and the turpentine spread upon the ground. 



Charles J. Fox, Esq. 



12 

From certain marks upon the trees, — made with coal, mixed with 
grease, — they understood that the men were taken and carried off 
alive. In the course of this examination, Farwell perceived tliat the 
turp;::ntine had not ceased spreading, and called the attention of his 
comrades to this circumstance. 

" They concluded that the Indians liad been gone but a sliort time, 
and must still l)e near, and decided upon instant pursuit. Farwell 
advised them to take a circuitous route, to avoid an ambush. But 
unfortunately lie and French had, a short time previous, had a misun- 
derstanding, and were still at variance. French imputed this advice 
to cowardice, and called out : 'I am going to take the direct path; 
if any of you are not afraid, let him follow me.' French led the way 
and the whole party followed, Farwell falling in the rear. Their route 
was up the Merrimack, towards which they bent their course, to look 
for their horses ujjon the intervale. At the brook near Lulwyche's 
(now Thornton's) Ferry, they were waylaid. The Indians fired uj)on 
them, and killed the larger part instantly. A few fled, but were over- 
taken and destroyed. French was killed about a mile from the place 
of action, under an oak tree, now standing in the field belonging to 
Mr. John Lund, of Merrimack. [This tree may now be seen from the 
road. It is directly east of Mr. Hutchins's, about half way to the 
river, by the line fence between Mr. Estey's and land of the late Mr, 
John Lund.] Farwell, in the rear, seeing those before him fall, sprang 
behind a tree, discharged his piece, and ran. Two Indians pursued 
him. The chase was vigorously maintained for some time, without 
gaining much advantage, till Farwell passed through a thicket, and the 
Indians lost sight of him ; and, fearing he might have loaded again, 
they desisted. He was the only one of the company that escaped. A 
company from the neighborhood mustered upon the news of this dis- 
aster, proceeded to the fatal spot, took up the bodies of their friends 
and townsmen, and interred them in the burying ground in Dunstable. 
Blanchard and Cross were carried to Canada. After remaining there 
some time, they sueceeded, by their own exertions, in effecting their 
redemption and returned to their native town, where their descend- 
ants are still living." 

Sometime in the same year Mr. William Lund was taken by the 
Indians, and carried captive into Canada. He was one of the first set- 
tlers in this town, and owned the farm on which the oak tree 
above described stands. He was the grandfather of Mr. John Lund, 



13 

and the ancestor of all the Lunds that have lived in this town. Dur- 
ing his captivity, his noble-spirited and affectionate wife, by her own 
enterprising exertions, converted such of her pioperty as she best could 
into money, and forwarded five hundred livres, — the price demanded, 
— to Jacob Wendell, of Boston, to be appropriated by him for the 
redemption of her husband. The receipt for the money, in the hand- 
writing of Colonel Schuyler, is now in possession of the family.* Mr. 
Lund was redeemed, and returned to his family, after being absent a 
year. His wife used playfully to say : " He is now mitie, for I have 
bought him." 

Mrs. Chamberlain, the wife of one of the first settlers in this town, 
used to say that a white man, who belonged to a sccouting party that 
was passing up the river, was killed by the Indians on the flat just 
above the bridge at Souhegan village. His name is not known. 

It is time, perhaps, to pass from the tragic scenes which form an 
eventful period in the annals of the past, and to trace the footsteps of 
civilization, treading hard upon the heel of barbarism, and taking pos- 
session, at length, of these our now peaceful homes. 

The first house that was built in Merrimack was erected by John 
Cromwell, a trader in fur with the Indians. He came orginally from 
England, and subsequently from Tyngsboro', to this place in 1665. 
He erected his trading house on the margin of the river, about a mile 
below Thornton's Ferry, at a place called, from this circumstance, 
" Cromwell's Falls." He here carried on a lucrative trade with the 
Indians. According to the custom of the time, it is said, he used his 
foot as z. pound weight, in the purchase of furs; until the Indians, 
beginning to suspect him of cheating them, formed the resoluticn 
to murder him. This intention was communicated to Cromwell, who 
buried his wealth and made his escape, after having lived in town, as 
is supposed, a little more than four years. Within a few hours after 
his flight a party of Indians arrived, and not finding the object of their 

*" Boston, January i6th, 1724-5. 
" Received of Mrs. Rachell Lund, of Dunstable, Sixty Pound Bill Credditt, which 
she leaves with me, in consideration of my giving my Letter of Credditt to Lieut. 
Joseph Blanchard, on Col. John Schuyler, att Albany. Said Blanchard being bound 
to Canada, for to get Mrs. Lund's husband redeemed from the Indians. And if he 
do not make use of my Creditt above, to the value of the sum she leaves with me, I 
promise to repay her the same. 

Per Jacob Wendell." 



H 

search, they burned his habitation, the cellar of which still is, or was, 
recently visible. 

From this time to 1722, a period of fifty-three years, we have no 
knowledge that any other house was built in Merrimack. At that time 
the place began gradually to be settled, by here and there an atl ven- 
turous pioneer, who had the hardihood to brave the terrors of wild 
beasts and wilder savages, who, in pas-siiig fr( m (ai ac'a to ihe 
frontier towns to commit their depredations, made this valley their 
thoroughfare. 

It is said that Jonas Barrett was the first that came into town as a 
permanent settler. He built his house on the farm owned by the late 
Ezra Blodgett. Not long after William Howard settled on the farm 
owned by Caleb Pearson, Esq. Howard was a bachelor and lived 
alone. Lonely, indeed, it must have been in the dee[), dense forest, 
four miles from any one with whom he could exchange a friendly word. 
He sometimes, it seems, felt the loneliness of his situation ; and one 
day he sought out, by marked trees, — for there was no path, — the 
abode of Barrett, and found him harrowing in grain with a hemlock 
tree top, so trimmed as to answer the purpose of a harrow. 

Howard planted the first orchard in town, and built the first cider 
mill ; and years after his bachelor abodef was a favorite place of 
resort, by people in this, and even in the neighboring towns, who, in 
their hours of leisure, sought to share the luxury of his home-matle 
beverage. 

The southerly portion of Merriinack, together with part of I-itch- 
field, on the opposite side of the river, was known among the Indians 
by the name of Naticook. 

At an early period the General Court of Massachusetts granted to 
Major Brenton, a trader among the Indians, a large tract of land about 
Naticook ; and it was subsequently known, indiscriminately, by the 
name of Naticook, or "Brenton's farm." 

In 1728 this '■'■farm'' was owned by several proprietors; among 
them the heirs of Brenton, and others who had purchased shares in 
the lands. Most of them lived in Massachusetts ; and on the 23d of 
August, that year, they held a meeting in Charlestown, chose a pro- 



f He aflerwards liad a family. Jonathan Howard, his son, became a wealtliy and 
influential merchant in Boston. 



15 

prietors' clerk, and passed orders for dividing the lands among the 
proprietors, according to their interests in the same, and took meas- 
ures to have mills erected. 

The effect of this was to encourage the immediate settlement of 
lands. They were bought by those who wished to cultivate the soil; 
and soon the woodsman's axe was heard, and busy preparations went 
on apace. The smoke from the log cabin, curling through the trees, 
and the distant low of the ox, that browsed in the meadows, indicated 
that a new order of things had commenced. 

Among the early settlers are the names of Hassell, Underwood, 
U.-iher, Blanchard, Patten, Powers, Cummings, Temple, Lund, Spaul- 
tling, Chamberlain, Barnes, Taylor, Stearns, McClure, Aulds, Bowers, 
Davidson and Hill. 

The farm settled by Benjamin Hassell is now in the possession of 
his descendant of that name. A daughter of his is said to have been 
the first white child born in the town. Mr. Hassell was a son of 
Jo>eph Has->ell, of Dunstable, and grandson of Joseph Hassell, who 
settled in Cambridge, 1647. 

The Underwoods settled in the rich intervale about Thornton's 
Ferry. Aquila lived on what is called the Wentworth place. He was 
moderator of the first town meeting in Naticook township, as also the 
first town clerk. Phineas Underwood, supposed to be his son, kept 
the first public house in town, which stood on tlie flat, east of Widow 
Crooker's. 

John Usher was a justice of the peace, and a man of considerable 
note in public business. He lived on the farm now owned by Mr. 
Samiiel Barron. 

Messrs. Cummings and Patten were the leading men in the affairs of 
the church ; and when it was organized they were chosen its first dea- 
cons. Deacon Cummings lived on the farm now owned by Mr. Wil- 
liam McKean ; and Deacon Patten lived near the school house in 
District No. 6. Samuel Spaulding, also, lived at the south part of the 
town, near where Mr. Walter Read now lives; was the ancestor of the 
numerous and respectable families of that name in this town. 

There were three by the name of Blanchard,— Joseph, Jonathan 
and Augustus,— sons of Colonel Joseph Blanchard, of Dunstable. 
Joseph settled on the farm of the late Mr. Levi Wilkins; Jonathan, on 
Mr. Daniel T. Ingalls's; and Augustus, on Mr. Jacob Burnap's. 



i6 

Their ancestors were liighly respectable, and they were men of active 
business habits. 

Timothy Taylor, Sen., married Rachel, daughter of Col. Blanchard, 
and lived on the tarm of the late Dr. Goodrich. Ephraim Powers 
lived where Mr. Jeremiah Woods now lives. It is a matter in itself of 
little historic interest where these men fixed their first abode; but 
there is a satisfaction in associating their memory with places familiar 
to us. 

Capt. John Chamberlain came from Chelmsford, in the year 1734, 
and built mills at Souhegan Falls. He received three hundred acres 
of land from the Brenton proprietors, on condition that he would erect 
a saw and grist mill. His mills were the first erected in the town. 
It is by many supposed that this Chamberlain is the same that killed 
Paugus, the Indian chief, in Lovewell's fight. But such is not the 
fact. They were cousins ; and from a descendant of the family I learn 
that, to distinguish them from each other, one was called Paugus John 
and the other Souhegan John. The descendants of Paugus John are 
now living in Groton, Mass. ; and the gun with which he shot Paugus 
is still kept by the family, and may be seen by calling upon them. 

Souhegan John, as he was called, married a daughter of Lieut. Far- 
well, who was the only one that escaped of the scouting party killed 
near Thornton's Ferry, and whose death is mentioned in the narrative 
of Lovewell's fight. He died of his wounds on his journey home. 

When Capt. Chamberlain built his log cabin, — which stood where 
the dwelling house of Mr. Henderson, at Souhegan, now stands, — 
there was but one house between him and Dunstable. He surrounded 
his house with pickets, to defend him from the attacks of the Indians, 
and commenced clearing his farm at the north end of the pond, below 
Mr. Herrick's. He went armed to his field, taking his wife and chil- 
dren with him, that he might protect them. It is said, that after he 
had cleared a piece of land, he raised, — the first year that he planted 
it, — four hundred bushels of corn. He built the first bridge across 
the Souhegan, at his own expense; and was the owner of a large negro 
slave, whom he purchased of a man who could not govern him. 

Capt. Chamberlain was a man of great energy of character, strong 
powers of mind, and ready wit. An anecdote, characteristic of him, 
is related in the Annals of Portsmouth, to this effect : While he was 
a member of the Provincial Assembly, a resolution had been adopted 
by the Council, in which the Assembly refused to concur. A member 



17 

of the former, in a passion, said, "I wish the Assembly were all in 
heaven." Chamberlain replied, "I should not object to that, sir, 
were it not that we should lose the pleasure of the company of his 
Majesty's Council." He represented this town twenty years. He 
died in 1792. His sons were Josiah, Thomas, Joseph and Samuel. 

From the knowledge that we have been enabled to gather of the 
character of the early settlers of this town, we believe them to have 
been an intelligent and patriotic band of men. The public spirit 
which they manifested, and their regard for the sujiport of schools, 
and the institutions of religion, speak loudly to their praise. 

In 1734 the General Court of Massachusetts granted to the district 
of Naticook, — then within the limits of Dunstable and county of Mid- 
dlesex, — a kind of town organization ; by which they were authorized 
to elect town ofificers, and proceed in the transaction of ordinary town 
business."^ 

A meeting of the inhabitants was soon after held, at the house of 
Mr. Underwood, and a board of town officers was chosen, partly from 
the west and partly from the east side of the river. 

Within a month another meeting was called to take measures for 
building a meeting house. The dimensions of the house were deter- 
mined, and the location fixed. From this time to April 2, 1746, a 
period of twelve years, the early settlers, — on what is now Merrimack 
and l-itchfield, — acted under a common organization. Their town 
meetings were holden, sometimes on one side of the river and some- 
times on the other. By their joint exertions and contributions they 
built what is now the old meeting house, in Litchfield. The frame 
was erected in 1736, but it was not entirely finished for some years 
afterwards. 



* In the House of Representatives, July 3d, 1734. 
Ordered, That Mr. Aquila Underwood, one of the principal inhabitants of the new 
township at Naticook and lands adjacent, be and hereby is, fully authorized and 
empowered to assemble the free holders and other inhabitants of said township, law- 
fully*qualified, to choose town officers, to stand until the anniversary meeting in 
March next. 

Sent up for concurrence. J. QuiNCY, Speaker. 

In Council, July 3d, 1734. 
Read and concurred in. J. Willard, Secretary. 

July 4th. Consented to. J. Belcher. 



i8 

It is not known how they took the name Litchfield. At the time 
of which I am speaking, the place was known, in court records, as 
the township of Naticook ; in their town records it was called Litch- 
field. 

Early measures were taken by them, after they had erected a house 
of worship, to settle a pastor. They first extended a call to Mr. 
Josiah Brown, which was unsuccessful. The following year they 
invited Mr. Isaac Merrill to become their pastor; he accepted the call, 
but before his ordination it was discovered that the people were not 
unanimous, and they did not proceed. 

At the present time, — when well-beaten roads for carriages make 
communication with different parts of the country easy, and railroads 
carry us with such speed through the length of the land, — it strikes us 
as very odd, to see an article like the following, in a warrant for a 
town meeting, viz. : "To see if the town will send a man and horse 
to Boston, to fetch up a minister." They did send (Alexander Par- 
ker, with a horse, who, on his return, brought up a young man, — Mr. 

Joshua Tufts. 

Not many months after, another town meeting was called, and Dea- 
con Jonathan Cummings, of the west side, and Mr. James Nahor, of 
the east side of the river, were appointed a committee to go to New- 
bury, to treat with Mr. John Tufts about having his son, Joshua, to 
preach in Litchfield. 

This little incident, trifling in itself, suggests to our mind a feature 
in the spirit of those times, that is pleasant to recall, — the deferential 
respect shown to parents; — manifesting itself not only in youth, but 
in manhood. So far from indicating a servile spirit, it is the evi- 
dence, rather, of a rnxg iinimDjs, a noble feeling. 

Mr. Tufts was unanimously invited to settle, provided he would sign 
six articles which they proposed, and get the advice of Rev. Mr. Par- 
ker, of Dracut, and Rev. Mr. McGregore, of Londonderry, for the 
same. 

At the time that he was ordained over the province of Litchfield, or 
Naticook, there were twenty-six voters on the east side of the rivtr, 
and twenty-one on the west. His salary was three hundred pounds, 
old tenor, for settlement, and one hundred and fifty pounds, old 
tenor, annual salary. [One hundred pounds, old tenor, was equal to 
twelve pounds lawful money, or forty dollars.] 



Mr. Tufts was graduated at Harvard University, in 1736 ; ordained 
in Naticook, 1741; and left, in 1744, before what is now Merrimack 
and Litchfield had a separate organization. 

Hitherto, the line between the States of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire had not been 'definitely settled, and Naticook had been 
under the jurisdiction of the former State. When the limitations were 
finally fixed, and we ceased to belong to the government of Massachu- 
setts, the inhabitants of Naticook, on the west side of Merrimack 
River, petitioned for an act of incorporation for a town, which should 
embrace all the territory between Souhegan River and Pennychuck 
Brook ; bounded east by the Merrimack River, and west by a line 
running due north from Pennychuck Pond.* 

One hundred years ago, this was incorpoiated, by the name of 
Merrymac. The act of incorporation is dated April 2, 1746, signed 
by Benning Wenhvorth, his Majesty's Governor in the Province, and 
it confers the usual privileges granted to towns, and makes the reser- 
vation usual in those days, viz.: "Of all the white pine trees grow- 
ing, or being, or that shall hereafter grow on said land, fur the royal 
navy." 

Col. Joseph Blanchard was authorized to call a meeting of the inhab- 
itants, for the purpose of organizing and choosing town officers. Not 
many weeks after that meeting, — true to the New England spirit, that 
made the district school and the sanctuary indispensable parts of a 
town organization, — they held another meeting, to choose a commit- 
tee to "hire preaching, and to order the place to have the preaching 
at." The history of the church forms a leading part in the early 
annals of all the towns in New England. 

In braving the dangers of the deep, — the privations and exposures 
that awaited them, in this, their wilderness home, — our fathers were 



* The boundaries specified in the charter are as follows : " Beginning at the rivcj 
Merrymac, where Pennychuck lirook conies into that river; then by the said Penny- 
chuck brook to Pennychuck pond; then due north, by the magnet, to Souhegan 
river; then by that river to Merrimack river; then on the west side of Merrimack 
river to the place where it first began ; and [they] that shall inhaint the same be, and 
by these presents are, declared and ordained to be a town corporate, and are hereliy 
erected and incorporated into a body politic, and a corporation to have continuance 
forever, by the name of Merrymac." 

The boundaries specified in the second charter, dated June i, 1750, are as follows 



20 

actuated by the most sublime and holy motives. They sought, not to 
enrich themselves with this world's good, or to make themselves a 
name, but they sought " freedom to worship God." 

Wherever they planted their feet and established their abode, the 
first forest trees were no sooner felled, than they turned their thoughts 
to the erection of a house for God, and a minister to preside at his 
altar. The luxuries, and even the comforts of life, they could forego, 
— they were content to live in humble cottages of unhewn logs, and, 
if need be, to adopt a coarse and scanty fare, — but religious privileges 
they could not sacrifice. They sought for themselves and for their 
children a home and habitation on high ; and to make, if possible, 
sure their aim, they observed, with reverent care, the Sabbath day. 
As oft as it returned they were seen, — the aged and the young, — 
bending their way, through forests deep it may be, guided in their 
weary path by marked trees, to the house of God. I have been told 
by an aged lady in this town, that it was her custom, and the custom 
of her neighbors, to walk from three to four miles to meeting. Nor 
did the young mother esteem it a hardship to conduct thither, on her 
errand of devotion, three or four young children; and, like Hannah 
of old, — the mother of Samuel, — present them before the Lord. 

Nor was it a vain or useless labor, thus to honor an institution of 
God's appointment. They were happier during the hours of the holy 
day; and, by a change of scene and change of employment, they were 
refreshed tor the toilsome duties of the week ; and, more than all, their 
minds and their hearts were invigorated by holy contemplations, while 
thev dwelt upon the sublime realities of a future life. 

Reminiscences of Sabbaths thus spent, still linger in the memory of 
the aged among us. How cordial was their greeting, as often as they 
met ; and how affectionate the intercourse of those who, by a commu- 
nity of hardships and hopes, were closely knit together. 

We find the first settlers of this town, among their earliest move- 



" BcCTinnincr at a place three miles north of the bridge over Souhegan river, at John 
Chamberlain's house, and from thence to run east, by th^ needle, to Merrymac river, 
and to extend that line west from the place three miles north from the bridge afore- 
said, until it intersects a line on a point north, by the needle, from the northwest cor- 
ner bound of the town of Merrymac, heretofore incorporated ; to bound westerly on 
that line, and on Merrymac river easterly, and on Souhegan river southerly ; shall be, 
and hereby is annexed to, and united with the town of Merrymac, with all the inhab- 
itants that are or shall be thereon," &c. 



21 

ments, taxing themselves largely to sustain, a part of the time, the 
jjreaching of the gospel. For the first year or two they enjoyed the 
occasional labors of the Rev. Daniel Emerson, of Hollis. 

In the year i 748, a Mr. Cheever supplied them, who, as far as is 
known, was the first minister regularly employed in Merrimack, after 
its incorporation. At this time they had no public place of worship. 
Their meetings were holden from house to house; and not infre- 
quently, we believe, the barn served them instead. They met in dif- 
ferent parts of the town ; sometimes near Thornton's Ferry, some- 
times at Col. Blanchard's, in the west part. 

If they had less of the outward comforts and attractions that now 
belong to the house of God, they doubtless were none the less sincere 
in their worship. They were not the less wakeful, it may be pre- 
sumed, though the rough slab or the scaffold beam served them, instead 
of a cushioned pew with carpeted floors. Nor were their songs of 
praise less in unison with the pious emotions of their hearts, though 
they were not echoed from the vaulted roof, or accompanied with the 
deep-toned organ. 

Hitherto we have spoken mainly of that portion of Merrimack which 
lies south of the Souhegan river. It is time that we turn to the history 
of the other part of the town. 

It has been stated, that as early as 1662, a grant was made, embrac- 
ing what is now the northerly part of Merrimack, to the Indian 
Sachem, Passaconaway. How long he retained it in possession, or 
what disposition he made of it, we do not know. But it seems that, 
by some means, it reverted again to the government; for, in 1729, 
John Richardson, Joseph Blanchard, and divers others, being at that 
time some of the proprierors of Brenton's farm, petitioned for a grant 
of land adjoining said farm, of the contents of twenty-one square 
miles, lying directly north, on both sides of Merrimack River. 
According, to the records of the court, it was 

"Voted, that the prayer of the petitioners be granted, provided 
they shall, within three years, lay out sixty house lots, compacted, and 
in a defensible manner, and set apart one lot for the first minister, and 
one for the ministry, and one for the school; and fifty families on the 
place do each build a house on his lot, and fence and break up three 
acres of land ; and the society settle a learned and orthodox minister, 
and build a meeting house for the worship of God within the town 
* * * Unless the conditions shall be complied with 
witliin the term, the lands shall be forfeited to this Province." 



44 

Such were the conditions on which the grant for the proposed new 
town was made. I introduce them for the purpose of showing that 
whatever the motives of individuals and private speculators might have 
been, in seeking grants of new townships, it was the steady aim of the 
government to grant land no faster than would be for the social, moral 
and religious advantage of the settlers, — to encourage them to pene- 
trate into the forest no faster than they could carry along with them 
the means of safety and improvement. 

A few settlements may have been made at that time, on the tract of 
land above mentioned, but the conditions of the grant were not ful- 
filled ; no meeting house was erected, — no minister was settled ; con- 
sequently the instrument became null and void. 

About [sixty years previous to this period, the country had been 
involved in a most troublesome war, with the Narragansett or Pequot 
Indians, who were headed by the far-famed chieftain, Philip of Mount 
Hope. This was attended with the most revolting cruelties. Many 
towns in Massachusetts were sacked, and the inhabitants subjected to 
the inhuman tortures of their merciless foe. At length the enemy was 
scattered, and Philip was shot through the heart by one of his own 
men, whom he had offended, as he was flying from a pursuing pa^ty 
out of a swamp, — August 12, 1676. 

A few of the soldiers, who had been engaged in this war, were still 
surviving. Like the patriots of the Revolution, they had merited their 
country's gratitude. In consideration of the services done by them 
in that war, the General Court of Massachusetts granted to the surviv- 
ors, and the legal heirs of the dead, a reward of seven townships of 
land. From this circumstance, these were afterwards known as the 
Narraganset townships. 

On the 6th of June, 1733, all these grantees, or their representatives 
assembled on Boston Common, and there divided themselves into 
seven companies, or societies, each society being entitled to a town- 
ship. No. 3 and No. 4 of these towns were in New Hampshire. The 
former was called " Souhegan West," afterwards Amherst; the latter 
was called "Souhegan East," embracing Bedford, and all the north- 
erly part of Merrimack. After this appropriation, Souhegan East 
began to be settled, — not, in general, by the proprietors, but by oth- 
ers who bought the land. 

In process of time, the Blanchards and others, who held real estate 
on both sides of the Souhegan River, — thinking to enhance its value, 



by bringing it near the centre of the town, — petitioned that a portion 
of Souhegan East, extending three miles north from Souhegan River, 
and as far west as the original town extends, might be added to Merri- 
mack. 

This charter was ratified June i, 1750. Thus the present limits and 
boundaries of the town were fixed. About the same time the remain- 
ing part of Souhegan East was incorporated, by the name of Bedford. 

At the first town meeting in Merrimack, under the new charter, 
they voted to proceed in the erection of a meeting house, and 
appointed a committee to make a survey, and find the exact centre of 
the town; who subsequently reported that it was "at a marked tree, 
on a knoll, about thirty rods southerly from Turkey Hill bridge." 

For reasons which are unknown, the building of the house was 
delayed. At each successive annual meeting the subject was under 
consideration ; money was appropriated, different dimensions were 
fixed, and it was apparent that it was in their hearts to build a house 
unto the Lord. At length the work went on. The forest, dense and 
heavy, that then entirely surrounded the destined location, resounded 
with the woodman's axe. The oaks hard by, — -venerable with the 
growth of centuries, — were felled, and fitted for their place; and early 
in the summer of 1756, the day, so long an object of pious desire on 
the part of some, and of wakeful interest among all, had arrived. At 
an early hour in the morning, from the remotest borders of the town, 
the men are gathering. All are prompt, and ready to act their several 
parts in a scene than which none, perhaps, more joyous had ever 
occurred in the history of the town. None of the actors survive, to 
recount what transpired on that memorable day. We know, however, 
that the raising of a meeting house was an event of no ordinary inter- 
est. But in these days of progress and rapid execution, when villages 
rise up like mushrooms, and meeting houses, comfortably provided 
with all fixtures, can be furnished at short notice, we can but imper- 
fectly imagine the excitement that thrilled the infant settlement on the 
occasion in question. 

The morning of the day, we may well suppose, found their domes- 
tic matters done up in season ; and we seem to see them setting off, — 
the active and able-bodied, with their implements in hand, — the 
housewives, neatly attired in their checked aprons, on foot or on pil- 
lion, — the beardless, vaunting young men and coy maidens in Sunday 
dress, — all wending their way to the central point of interest, where, 



24 

doubtless, in due time, were cassembled nearly all of the three hundred 
population in town. 

What deeds of strength and agility, in handling beams and rafters, 

— what skill in tilting and catching pins, — what hair-breadth escapes, 

— what presumptuous adventures, in walking the giddy ridge pole, — 
what notes of alarm, from prudent mothers and careful wives, — it is 
not for us to report. Nor would it be of interest, at this late period, 
to speak of the closing scenes of that day. It is enough to remark 
that, as after the consecration of the Temple, Solomon held a feast, 
and all Israel with him, and on the eighth day sent the people away, 
and they came to their tents joyfully and glad of heart ; so, by vote, 
on record, the town made abundant provision for all those creature 
comforts once, — but not now, — deemed indispensable at a raising. 

The massive frame thus went up, without any accident to mar the 
happiness of the occasion ; and there it has stood, almost a century, 
defying the fierce blasts of winter and the progress of decay, — and 
seems even now capable, with proper care, of lasting a century more. 
Though it has been taken from sacred and appropriated to secular uses, 
— though it stands solitary and alone, and seems, without and within, 
like one forsaken, — yet, who can pass that ancient sanctuary, with the 
graveyard hard by it, without emotion? We may call it a homely 
structure, — and, compared v/ith an improved architecture, it may be 
homely, — yet, it is unique and perfect in its kind. It belongs only to 
New England. It is a Puritian structure — unprepossessing, simple, 
substantial. The like are now but rarely seen, and soon will all be 
gone. But centuries to come will approve and applaud the New Eng- 
land men, who worshipped in square pews, and the New England 
ministers, who preached with a subduing power from high pulpits. 

It is interesting to trace the history of the successive efforts that 
were made by the early settlers of the town, to secure for themselves 
and for their children the advantages of a settled ministry. As early 
as 1755, — the year before the erection of the meeting house, — and 
when the population of the town was probably less than three hun- 
dred, we find them voting to settle a gospel minister, "as soon as the 
town shall find a good opportunity, and a man that is agreeable to the 
inhabitants." 

At the same meeting they voted to give Mr. Josiah Stearns the first 
invitation to become their minister. Mr. Stearns was graduated at 
Harvard University, in the class of 1751. The town were unsuccess- 



25 

ful in this, their first attempt ; but they continued, from year to year, 
to raise money, according to their scanty means, to procure preaching, 
and were supplied by different ministers. One year they appropriated 
their money to employ Rev. Mr. Houston, who was, about that time, 
settled in Bedford. 

In 1 762, August 30, at a meeting called for the purpose, it was voted, 
" that the town inclines to do something, with regard to joining with 
Litchfield in the settlement of a minister." The proposition had been 
made, — and was favorably entertained by both towns, — that they 
should unite, on terms which will be explained in the following reso- 
lution, passed at the above meeting : 

" Whereas the people may be much better settled and supported by 
joining the towns of Merrimack and Litchfield in the expense; [of 
maintaining a minister,] therefore voted, that William Auld and oth- 
ers be a committee of the town, fully authorized and empowered to 
make a proposal to the town of Litchfield, or any committee appointed 
by them ; that the town of Merrimack will support one half the charge, 
in settling and supporting a minister, or they will support him by poll 
and estate. Such an one shall be agreed on by the inhabitants of 
both towns, who shall preach, according to the pay, in each town. 
Both meeting houses shall be properly finished, at the charge of each 
town, so that they shall be convenient for the people to meet in." 

The town of Litchfield were unanimously inclined to such an 
arrangement, and the affair seemed to be in a way to be consummated; 
but when it was made a condition that we should move our meeting 
house from the centre of the town, and place it on the river bank, the 
town were unwilling to comply, and the matter was dropped. 

We cannot but notice here the reciprocal attitude, which the 
churches of Merrimack and Litchfield have sustained to each other. 
For twelve years the towns were united, under a common organiza- 
tion, and worshipped together. Subsequently, for a few years, there 
was no church in Merrimack ; and those in this town, who sought the 
communion and fellowship of Christian brotherhood, were united with 
the church in Litchfield, from which they removed their relation when 
our church was formed. 

In the course of events, the church in Litchfield, a few years ago, 
became similarly situated. They were without a pastor, and the little 
band, — diminished by death and removals, — sought, by a temporary 
union with the church in Merrimack, the enjoyment of Christian ordi- 



26 

nances, and the fellowsliip of Christian sympathy, under circumstances 
quite similar to those in which the two churches came together ninety 
years before. 

In 1767, August II, the town of Merrimack invited Mr. Simeon 
Miller to become their pastor. Mr. Miller was graduated at Yale Col- 
lege, in 1762. 

This call being unsuccessful, they, three years after, invited Mr. 
Obadiah Noble. They were not entirely unanimous in this; and it is 
interesting, at this late period to observe, in the history of the tran- 
saction, something of the spirit and character of those times. 

The settlement of a minister was an event in which all felt a lively 
interest. It was not a temporary arrangement, but one which they 
desired to be permanent. They therefore moved deliberately and 
cautiously. Their candidates w^ere on probation a sufficient time to 
give opportunity for mutual acquaintance. Mr. Noble was here 
between one and two years. When the people were called to act they 
acted advisedly. A majority were in favor of retaining him ; but a 
protest, signed by twenty-five men, was brought into the next town 
meeting. It is in the words following : 

"We, the subscribers, being inhabitants of the town of Merrimack, 
do protest against the settling of Mr. Obadiah Noble, a gospel minis- 
ter, in said town ; and for the reason that we cannot, in conscience, 
commit the care of our souls to him." 

But the town were not to be deterred by such a formidable protest. 
They renewed the call, at a subsequent town meeting, and appointed 
a committee to urge its acceptance. In those days majorities ruled ; 
but Mr? Noble, probably from considerations of prudence, withdrew." 

It is understood that those who signed the protest were of the Scot- 
tish families that came from the north of Ireland, and settled in this 
region. They brought with them a strong attachment, not only to 
the doctrines, but to the discipline of the Presbyterian Church. The 
other settlers of the town, coming from Massachusetts, had an equally 
strong attachment to the Congregational mode of discipline; and they, 
being in the majority, formed a Congregational Church, while in Bed- 
ford the Scottish settlers were in the majority, and formed a Presby- 
terian Church. 

It was, doubtless, in consequence of their preference to the modes 
of Church government in which they had been educated, that sundry 
of the inhabitants of Merrimack, for a number of years, united with 



57 

the people of Bedford in religious privileges; while sundry others 
of Bedford united with the people of Merrimack. 

Rev. Jacob Burnap was next employed to preach in Merrimack, as 
a candidate, 

On Monday, the 23d of December, 1771, they voted to give him a 
call to settle, as pastor of the Church, agreeably to the Congregational 
method ; and to pay him seventy-five pounds settlement, and fifty 
pounds lawful money as an annual salary. His letter of acceptance 
was read at the town meeting, in March, 1772, and preliminary meas- 
ures were then taken for the ordination, which, in those days, was a 
rare occasion. During all the spring and summer the event was antic- 
ipated with impatient interest. At that time the entire population of 
the town was about five hundred ; but preparations were made for a 
vast assemblage of people to witness the solemnity. Among other 
things a committee was appointed to lay a loose floor in the galleries 
. of tlie meeting house, — to brace them thoroughly, — to put up a rough 
breast-work in front, — and build stairs, or ladders, to each.* 

The long-expected day, — Wednesday, October 24, 1772, — at length 
arrived. Tlie first minister of the town, and the man of tiieir choice, 
was about to be consecrated to his holy work; and while the infant 
church and the more serious of the people looked upon the occasion 
with joy, — as the promise and the pledge of better days to come, in 
connection with the labors of their chosen teacher, — the less serious 
were also in high and ardent expectation. To all classes, in those 
days, an ordination afforded subject matter of lively interest and 
pleasure. 

Thirteen churclies were invited on the council, and they all were 
represented by their pastors and delegates. They were Chelmsford, 
Amherst, Wilmington, Hollis, Pepperell, Middleton, Reading, (North,) 
Reading, (West,) Reading, (South,) Litchfield, Billerica, Dunstable, 
Goffstown. 

Rev. Mr. Bridge, of Chelmsford, was Moderator, and gave the 
charge. Rev. Thomas Haven, of Reading, preached the sermon, from 
Titus, iii. 8. "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that 
thou affirm constantly, that they who have believed in God might be 

* At this time nothing had lieen done to the interior of the meeting house but the 
hiying of the lower floor and the putting up of temporary seats. 

Some years afterwards "pew-grounds" were laid out, and deeded to purchasers, 
who built the pews themselves. 



28 

careful to maintain good works. These tilings are good and profitable 
unto men." Rev. Mr. Wilkins, of Amherst, gave the right hand of 
fellowship. 

Thus were closed the solemn services which set apart a youthful pas- 
tor to a sphere of action in which he was to move for more than forty- 
nine years. In the lapse of those years he followed to the grave nearly 
all who witnessed his ordination. At length he was gathered among 
them, to rest; borne by those whom he had consecrated at the bap- 
tismal font, blessed at the nuptial altar, or welcomed at the sacra- 
mental table. 

The Congregational Church was organized September 5th, 1771, a 
little more than a year before the ordination of their pastor. It con- 
sisted of ten male and three female members, viz.: 

Jonathan Cummings, died 1791. 

William Patten, died 1793. 

Ebenezer Hills, died 1804, June 21. 

Jonathan Cummings, Jr., died 1787. 

Jonas Barrett, died 1793. 

Benjamin Hassell, died 1785. 

Jacob Wilson, died 1776. 

Thomas Barnes, died 1805. 

Samuel Spalding, died 1797. 

Henry Fields, died 1804. 

Hannah, wife of Jacob Wilson, died 1788. 

Sarah, wife of Samuel Spalding, died 1815. 

Rachel, wife of Thomas Barnes, died 1777. 

This Church has now been organized about sevent}-five years ; of 
which time it has enjoyed the labors of a settled pastor sixty years, 
'viz.: Dr. Burnap was pastor between forty-nine and fifty years, and 
received into the Church one nundred and ninety-four members ; Rev. 
Stephen Morse was pastor three years, and received into the Church 
fourteen members ; the present pastor has been settled seven years, 
and has received into the Church sixty-four members. 

During the fifteen years that the Church was without a pastor it 
enjoyed preaching most of the time, and forty-six members were added ; 
a considerable number of them, in connection with the labors of the 
Rev. Mr. Bartley, now of Hampstead, who witnessed, while here, a 
season of more than usual religious interest. 



29 

There has been one similar season since, though never has there 
been in town anything like a general revival of religion. 

The whole number of members that ever belonged to this Church is 
three hundred and thirty-one ; the present number is one hundred and 
five. 

The Rev. Dr. Burnap, the first pastor of the Church, was born in 
Reading, Massachusetts, November 2, 1748. In the year 1766 he was 
admitted, at the age of seventeen, a member of Harvard University. 
In college he was regular in his habits, and, by his amiable deport- 
ment, won the affection of his teachers. In 1770 he took his first 
degree, and in 1813 he received from his Alma Mater the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity. 

Soon after he left college he commenced the study of theology with 
Rev. Thomas Haven, of his native town. 

About the time of his settlement in Merrimack, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Ruth Hopkins, of Reading; but he was soon called 
to mourn her early death.* 

Some time after he married Miss Elizabeth Brooks, of Medford, sis- 
ter of the late Gov. Brooks. By her he had thirteen children : six 
sons and seven daughters. f 

P'ive sons and two daughters still survive. Two of the former and 
both of the latter reside among us. 

The following sketch of Dr. Burnap' s character is abridged from a 
funeral discourse by Rev. Humphrey Moore, of Milford : 

"The faculties of his mind were strong and well proportioned. 
They were calculated for extensive acquirements and usefulness, and 
for the formation of a complete character. His understanding was 
clear and quick in its operations. His reason was strong and conclu- 
sive. His judgment was sound and correct. His memory was reten- 



* Her monument is inscribed : " Here lies interred the body of Mrs. Ruth Bur- 
nap, the wife of Rev. Jacob Burnap, who departed this life December 21, 1773, ac^ed 
twenty-six. 

"In memory of her affection, prudence, goodness, virtue and piety, I inscribe her 
praise, and lament her sudden death; but not as they who mourn without hope, for I 
believe and expect the resurrection of them that sleep in Christ. J. Burnap." 

f Her monument bears the following : " Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Eliz.ibeth 
Burnap, wife of Rev. Jacob Burnap. who died May 4th, 1810, aged fifty-two years." 

" Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea saith the Spirit, 
that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." 



30 

tive. These powers were well cultivated. He was remarkable for 
patience of thought, by which he was peculiarly qualified for investiga- 
tion. He could dwell on subjects till light collected and truth 
appeared. 

" He was mighty in the Scriptures. From this treasure he filled his 
mind Bnd refreshed his heart. He was well acquainted with the orig- 
inal languages in which the Old and New Testaments were written. 

"As a preacher he was scriptural. In his sermons he was methodi- 
cal, and his style was perspicuous. His devotions indicated a heart 
warmed with piety ; and on special occasions they were remarkably 
appropriate. 

"In his ministerial intercourse with his people he knew how to 
adapt his discourse and deportmeut to the different ages and condi- 
tions of life. By his prudence, meekness, affection, and assiduous 
attention, he secured their respect and friendship, and witnessed a 
degree of union and peace during his ministry, which but few pastors, 
at the present day, have the happiness to experience. In the perform- 
ance of social duties he exemplified the religion which he taught. He 
was upright in his dealings and obliging in difficulties. He was affable 
to all, and still supported the dignity of his station. He was cheerful 
in his deportment and proved that religion is not wrapt in shades and 
frowns, but, like its divine Author, sheds light, and peace, and happi- 
ness where it dwells. 

"In his family he was a pattern of paternal affection and instruc- 
tion, and his children give evidence that his labor was not in vain. 

" His light and usefulness were not confined within the limits of his 
own particular charge. He was often called abroad for ministerial 
labor. As a member of ecclesiastical councils for the settling of diffi- 
culties and promoting the good order of the churches, his knowledge 
of church discipline, his spirit of peace and prudence qualified him for 
extensive usefulness." 

He continned to preach until prostrated by his last sickness, which 
was only of one or two weeks' duration, when he was removed from 
the scenes of his earthly labors, after having been pastor of the church 
almost fifty years.* 

* His monument Ijears the following inscription : 

Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Jacob Burnap, D. D. He was born in Reading, 



31 

Though many years liave elapsed since his death, he still lives in the 
fresh and affectionate remembrance of many who sat under his min- 
istry. 

After his removal the church was without a pastor until July 6, 1825, 
when Rev. Stephen Morse was ordained. He continued but three 
years, and was dismissed by a mutual council. 

Mr. Morse is a native of Bradford, Mass. Graduated at Dartmouth 
College, 182 1, and studied his profession with Rev. G. Perry, of 
Bradford. 

The present pastor was installed May 22, 1839. 

Those who have held the office of deacon in the first church are, 

Jonathan Cummings, elected 

William Fatten, " 
Jonathan Cummings, Jr., " 

Aaron Gage, Jr., " 

Solomon Dan forth, " 

Benjamin Nourse, " 

Augustus Lund, " 

Daniel Ingalls, " 

Robert McGaw, " 

Joseph Wilson, " 

In 1829, Oct. 29, another Congregational Church was formed, com- 
posed of persons living in the extreme south part of Merrimack, in 
Hollis, Amherst, Milford and Nashua, under the style, "Union Evan- 
gelical Church, in Merrimack." The same year they erected a neat 
and commodious house of worship, which is located within the limits 
of Merrimack, a few rods only from the line of Hollis and of Amherst, 
and about equi-distant from all the towns above mentioned ; from 
which circumstance the place has been called Centreville. 



Nov. 


2, 


1772, di 


ed 1 79 1 


Nov. 


2, 


1772, 


1793 


Nov. 


i3> 


1781, 


' 1787 


Nov. 


i3> 


1 78 1, 


' 1832 


Oct. 


23. 


1787, ' 


' 1833 


Dec. 


9. 


1795. ' 


1818 


Nov. 


30. 


1796, ' 


1815 


Nov. 


23. 


1815, ' 


1832 


Sept. 


9> 


1831, 




Sept. 


9> 


183X, 





Mass., Nov. 2, 174S. Graduated nt Harvard Universiiy, 1770. 
town, Oct. i^, 1772. Died Dec. 26, 1821, aged 73. 

After a long and peaceful ministry, 
He died in the faith of Jesus Christ; 
He sleeps here in the midst of his flock, 
By whom he was beloved and revered, 
Awaiting a happy resurrection. 
To a new and better life. 



Ordained in this 



32 

Their first pastor was Rev. Samuel H. Tollman. Their present pas- 
tor is Rev. John W. Shepard, who was installed early in the spring of 
1844. 

In the civil history of the town the record of occurrences, from yea^ 
to year, though interesting to the actors concerned, is so mu( h in 
accordance with the usual routine, that it need not, on this occasion, 
ODcupy much of our time. 

The breaking out of the Revolutionary war was the occasion of 
developing a spirit of patriotism in all our towns, such as had never 
found expression before. 

Perhaps we cannot well comprehend the intense excitement that pre- 
vailed when, on the 19th of April, 1775, hostilities actually com- 
menced, and the first blood was shed at Lexington. Heralds might 
be S'l'cn going in every direction from town to town, as fast as horses 
could travel; the bells, were ringing, and drums beating the roll ; little 
groups were collecting here and there, their countenances speaking 
anxiety and alarm. Soon the labors of the field were suspended, and 
men in their working dress, with their muskets and cartridge boxes, 
were rallying. They bid a hasty adieu to their wives and sisters, 
whose tears would flow, though they approved the heroic determina- 
tion of those they loved. 

It was thus that New England's yeomanry were on a sudden aroused. 
Brave hearts were at once determined. The yoke of foreign allegiance 
was thrown down, and the people came forth in the majesty of their 
might. " At once the country was filled with armed men. Stark was 
in his sawmill, at Londonderry, when he heard the news of bloodshed 
at Lexington, and instantly took his musket and started for the camp. 
Putnam was ploughing in the middle of a field. He left his plough in 
the furrow, unyoked his oxen, and without changing his dress, mounted 
his horse and proceeded to the scene of action." At that exciting 
period Merrimack was by no means an inactive spectator. A little band 
of soldiers hastened away to join their brave associates and defend and 
deliver their bleeding country. At a town meeting appropriations 
were freely made to furnish the soldiery with ammunition and to 
defray their expenses. 

Think of these new settlers struggling with efforts to clear, little by 
little, their forest farms, and taxing themselves heavily to make 
new roads and to build, piece by piece, a temple to worship God ; 



33 

their courageous hearts did not quail. When the note of war was 
sounded, from hillside and vallev, a generous and brave response was 
heard. Dr. Burnap used to remark that this town furnished an unu- 
sual number of soldiers; that not less than forty men were employed 
in active service in some portion of the war of the Revolution, and 
that they were all strong, athletic men, capable of great physical 
exertion. 

Some of their names remain on our records as those to whom, or to 
whose, families approjjriations were made ; but they themselves have 
all passed away. 

At that eventful period, when the war commenced, the town was 
represented in the Provincial Assembly by Jacob McGaw, Esq., a man 
in whose prudence and patriotism they could safely confide. He was 
of Scotch descent and came from the north of Ireland, when quite a 
youth, in company with his friend, Robert Means, who was of abou 
the same age. 

It is said that on their arrival in Boston, after they had paid their 
passage, their funds were so nearly exhausted that they had but twenty- 
five cents to divide between them. And it is alike honorable to them- 
selves and to that holy religion under whose influence they had been 
educated, that they spent the first day of their sojourn in this country 
as a day of fasting and prayer to God, that he would guide their youth- 
ful adventures. They then set forth with no patrimony but honest 
hearts and industrious hands, and found their way to Merrim-eck, 
where they settled and plied their trade as weavers. To this they 
added peddling goods in small trunks, one going out at a time. 
As their little stock increased they engaged in trade on a larger scale, 
and it became in their view desirable that one of them should remove 
to Amherst. They both chose to remain in this town. To decide the 
point they cast lots. Mr. Means went to Amherst. In process of 
time they both became wealthy merchants ; ranked among the most 
influential citizens in the county, and were the fathers of highly intel- 
ligent and respectable families. 

Mr. McGaw was a useful member of society, and a staid and exem- 
plary Christian. He died, very much lamented, in 1810, at the age 
of seventy-three. 

Matthew Thornton was another man of note in town. He, too, was 
from the north of Ireland ; was born in 1714, and when about two or 
three years of age his father came to this country and settled in Wor- 



34 

cester, Mass. Young Thornton pursued the study of medicine, and 
commenced the practice of his profession in Londonderry, from 
whence he removed to Merrimack. 

In 1776 lie was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and affixed 
his name to the Declaration of Independence. He was afterwards 
Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and Judge of the Supe- 
rior Court of his adopted State. 

Jud<7e Thornton died while on a visit to Newburyport. His monu- 
ment bears the following inscription : "Erected to the memory of 
the Hon. Matthew Thornton, Esq., who died June 24, 1803, aged 89 
years. The honest man." 

Edward Goldstone Lutwyche, Esq., an English gentlemen of edu- 
cation and fortune, resided some years in Merrimack, previous to 
1776, at Thornton's, then called Lutwyche's,. Ferry. He held the 
highest offices of the town, and was Colonel of the Regiment in 1775, 
but on the Declaration of Independance he joined the English, left the 
country, to which he never returned, and at the close of the war his 
estate was confiscated to the State."*" 

His mother continued to reside here until her death. She left a 
small legacy to the town. Her monument may be seen in the grave- 
yard at Thornton's Ferry. 

Dr. Abel Goodrich was born at Lunenberg, Mass., in September, 
1 761. He came to this town and settled as a physician in 1784, and 
resided iiere until the time of his death, which took place January 12, 
1841, in the 80th year of his age. He was a man of strong and vigor- 
ous powers of mind and had a natural fondness for the study of medi- 
cine, in the practice of which he acquired great celebrity and per- 
formed an amount of professional labor equalled by few. He pos- 
sessed an open and candid mind, and maintained great independence 
of character. He was inflexible in his integrity, and an unyielding 
defender of those principles which he conceived to be right. If he 
had strong passions, he possessed a kind heart and was actuated by the 
most humane and generous impulses. He never turned an indifferent 
ear to the call of the distressed, but went with as much cheerfulness to 
the abode of poverty as to the dwellings of affluence. 

* He was a fine belles-lettres scholar, and had a very large and choice library 
which was forwarded to him in England. He was afterwards employed in the ser 
vice of the East India Company, aad his desceiidxnts are wealthy and highly respect. 
able. 



35 

He was a useful citizen and eminently public spirited. "Between 
him a-id the late Dr. Burnap, his pastor and near neighbor, there 
existed a mutual attachment, which no vicissitude ever cooled, and 
only death could sever." After more than fifty years spent in the 
toils of his profession, he went down to the grave in liis ripe old age 
honored and beloved. 

Hon. James B. Thornton, a grandson of Judge Thornton, repre- 
gCnted Merrimack in the Legislature several years, and was Speaker of 
the House in 1829. In 1830 he was appointed Second Comptroller of 
the Treasury of the United Stales. In this situation he remained at 
Washington until 1836, when he was sent to Peru as Charge des 
Affaires of the United States wiihirf that province. He died at Callao^ 
Peru, January 25, 1838, at the age of thirty-eight, and was buried in 
the English cemetery at Bella Villa, near Callao. 

There are in the annals of the town the names of many others wlio 
are equally worthy of our passing notice, and who have been more dis- 
tinguished for their private virtues. But our limits forbid us to 
enlarge. Nor do they need our praise. They will live in the affec- 
tions of those who knew them best, and their monuments will not 
grow dim so long as there are those left wlio appreciate Christian 
worth and who award the highest distinctions to those whom God 
delighteth to honor. 

We have thus, briefly and imperfectly, reviewed the history of the 
men and the events of oihr days. We have passed rapidly from 
period to period and from scene to scene, but not so was it in the expe- 
rience of those whose lives we record. What we pass over in an hour 
has occupied, in the actual occurrence, more than a century. 

We make a single paragraph tell the story of years, but the filling up 
of those years with the unchronicled events that have transpired, has 
been the employment of those who now sleep in the dust. 

Yes ! they sleep. They who were here a hundred years ago are 
gone ! Not one remains. Not only are they gone, but gone with 
them are all those busy plans which they pursued, — those objects of 
ardent hope and higli endeavor. We leave them in their quiet graves 
to rest till the resurrection morning. 

Here and there, as we go about the town, we see the garden plot, 
the cellar hole, or the moss grown well, pointing otit the place where 
first they erectetl their dwellings. There they lived. Around thoi;^ 



36 

stone chimneys, some relics of which even now remain, their family 
circle was gathered. 

In their long winter evenings, when the toils of the day were done, 
they have recounted their adventures of hardship and danger. Or 
perchance nightfall has overtaken the husband when far from home, 
and the wife has there spent her lonely evening, watching her babes 
and starting at each rustling of the leaf or sighing of the wind, as if 
the Indian were at hand with his dieaded tomahawk to convert the 
abode into one of cruelty and death. 

Each family has had its own history of sorrow and of joy. Chil- 
dren have grown up to bless their doting parents. Their childhood 
sports and merry laugh have relieved the loneliness of the forest. 
And when, perhaps, the hearts of those parents were most elated with 
hope, sickness has laid its hand on a favorite child. Then fallowed 
the anxious watching. The sick lamp burned till the morning. 
Through the long days and nights of suspense, those parents smoothed 
the pillow and moistened the parched lips of the sufferer till at length 
death crushed the fond hopes which they had raised. Then followed 
the funeral. In such young seltltments all the families are mourners. 
Touch one heart with joy or woe and every other quivers with a kin- 
dred emotion. Their common hardships bind them together in the 
closest bonds. They weep with those who weep, and rejoice with 
those who rejoice. 

In all the dwellings of our fathers, tender ties have been sundered. 
Tears have been shed, and many a heart has been made desolate. But 
theirs was not all the experience of sorrow. The sun brightly shone 
when the cloud had passed, and cheerful, happy days were theirs. 

In all their varying scenes of trouble and of joy, the domestic altar 
was the place of their resort. How quiet and how delightful the scene 
which closed the day. We seem to see them even now gathered at 
the hour of prayer. The forest is dense around them. Night frowns 
and all without is dark and drear — by no means an unapt figure of 
what their hearts would be without the light of faith — within is a little 
group around the cheerful fire, bowing in humble adoration and praise. 
Parents invoke the blessing of God on those who remain, and on the 
children that have gone from the pirental roof. When they lay them, 
selves down to rest they know not what scenes of savage cruelty they 
may pass through ere the morning. But in the confidence of filial 



Z7 

trust they commend themselves to God, and their sleep is sweet and 
undisturbed. 

In sketching a history of the early settlers of the town, we have only 
here and there a meagre record of what ihey did. We naturally feel 
a desire to enter within the outer veil, and, in the sanctuary of their 
thoughts, their m:)tives, and their affections, study their individual 
character. 

Most of them were descended from a race of men who cannot be 
too highly appreciated. Coming from the Eastern part of Massachu- 
setts, they belonged to the Puritan stock, than which a nobler or a 
better never lived. 

In many essential features we may believe that they were like them. 
Nor were the Scottish settlers less honorably descended. 

We do not pretend that they were never mistaken in their views of 
truth and duty; that they did not have all the passions and prejudices 
that belong to human nature, but that they brought with them into 
these forest abodes many noble sentiments, and high and holy pur- 
poses, we do not doubt. 

If they were not enlightened in the general range of the sciences, 
their minds were enlightened by an intelligent and prayerful study of 
the word of God. They entertained an habitual reverence for God 
and his ordinances. Profanity was unknown among them, and if one 
was absent from meeting on the Sabbath he was supposed to be sick. 
The Bible was their pole star and their guide. 

They sought with anxious care the prosperity of the church, well 
knowing that without the elevating and ennobling influences of a pure 
Christianity their free institutions could never prosper. 

They were men of public spirit. " Next to genuine religion this is 
the noblest trait of the human character; and it is never found in its 
highest excellence separate from religion." They were public spirited 
from the highest motives. No partizan zeal or plan of self-advance- 
ment swayed their general purpose. To enjoy a free government, 
make provision for the education of their children, maintain the pub- 
lic worship of God and live in the smiles of his approval, were the 
ruling objectsof their life. 

Such were the men of other days. Here they have lived ; here they 
have labored ; here they have died. The century which swept them 
away has closed. We assembled today to commemorate their worth 
and treasure in our minds their virtues. 



Looking forth from the confines of another century, we remember 
that through the changes which they have passed we also must go. 

It is said of Xerxes, the famous Persian general, that when he 
reviewed his vast army, assembled on the plains of Asia, he was 
observed to shed tears. When interrogated as to the cause, "I weep," 
said he, " to think that in a hundred years not one of all this assem- 
bled multitude will be living." 

One hundred years hence, yonder river will continue its flow ; the 
opening Spring will melt the snows from our valleys and wake the 
cheerful song of birds ; the sky above will spread out its cerulean can- 
opy, but all else how changed ! 

In the progressive march of improvement we can hardly conjecture 
what changes may be wrought; what thriving villages may spring up; 
what improvements in agriculture may convert the sterile plain into 
fruitful fieids ; what acquisitions may be made in human science; 
what triumphs over the degradation of vice ; what advances in the 
means of human enjoyment, and what diffusion of a spirit of holiness. 

Whatever they may be, it is certain that we shall not be here to wit- 
ness them. Other generations will stand in our places, and some one, 
perhaps, with antiquarian zeal, in collecting the material for another 
century's history, will carefully remove the moss from our grave stones 
and there learn the brief story when we were born and when he died. 

What contempt — permit the remark — do such reflections pour on 
the pursuit of the fleeting honors and perishable possessions of this 
world. Phantoms they are, that soon pass away ! 

Would we attain the high purpose of life, and leave an enduring 
memorial behind us, would we perpetuate the institutions which our 
fathers have established, and live in the grateful remembrance of com- 
ing generations, — let us be true to New England, the Puritan, spirit. 

It is not a fertile soil, it is not abounding wealth, it is not fine 
streets, nor elegant houses that make a town. It is m<r/2, — men moved 
by a spirit of patriotism, — disinterested, public spirited, virtuous men. 

It is our lot to live where the purest influences surround us, and the 
noblest models are before us. We are encompassed with motives that 
are suited to elevate our aims, and stimulate our aspirations for attain- 
ing to the true dignity of men. 

Aside from the living influences, we have the great examples of wis- 
dom, and genius, and patriotism of the illustrious dead. "I'he living 
and the dead are but one family, and the moral and intellectual afllu- 



39 

ence of those who have gone before us, remains to enrich their pos- 
terity. 

"The great fountain of human character lies be3'on(l the confines of 
life. It is there that the spirits of all ages, after their sun is set, are 
gathered into one firmament to shed their unquenchable light upon us. 

"It is in the great assembly of the dead, thar the patriot and the 
Christian complete their benefaction to mankind, by becoming imper- 
ishable examples of virtue." 

The great and the good, — our ancestors of revered memory, the 
pilgrims and the patriots, — are looking down upon us. The record of 
their life, sacred to fame, is before us. 

By the contemplation of their virtues, led us add vigor to ours, and 
thus emulate and equal them in whatever is noble in conception, excel- 
lent in purpose, and great in achievement. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Al the annual town meeting in Merrimack, March loth, 1846, it was sgggested 
that the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of the iown wculci be en the 
second of April ; whereupon the town voted, unanimously, to celebrate the day with 
some appropriate exercises. 

The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to determine in what way 
the day should be observed, and make all the preliminary arrangements: 

James U. Parker, Robert McGaw, Ira Spalding. 

Stephen T. Allen, Simeon Kenney, Joseph B. Holt, 

Sam'l McConihe, Leonard Walker, facob Buinap, 

Nathan Parker, Aaron Gage, JDan'l L. Herrick, 

Oliver Spalding, Samuel Barron. 

The committee subsequently held a meeting, and voted that, inasmuch as the 
annual state fast occurs on the second of April, the celebration should occur on the 
third ; that an address be delivered at the meeting house of the First Con'.;re"ational 
Society; that a public dinner be provided ; and that the native sons and daughters 
of Merrimack be invited to return and participate in the exercises of the occasion. 

Robert McGaw, Esq., was appointed President of the Day. 
Nathan Parker, Esq., 1 ir- n -j^ 
Samuel McLonihe, Esq., J 
Mr. Joseph B Holt, I ^^^^^,^,^ 
Capt, Ira Spaldmg, J 

The third of April was a beautiful day. The cheerful notes of the spring birds 
hailed its dawning, and filled the air with their soft and stirring music. The sky 
was clear and bright. Bright and happy faces, too, there were , for, though the 
notice had been short, and all the preparations hasty, yet the interest in the occasion 
had from day to day increased, until now there was scarcely an individual in the 
town who did not welcome it with joy. 

A long time before the hour of meeting carriages were in motion, strangers were 
coming into town, and crowds were gathering. At eleven o'clock a procession was 
formed, under the direction of Capt. Ira Spalding, and marched to meeting house 
preceded by a band of music. 

When the audience had filled the house and were seated, the President of the Day, 
after a brief and appropriate address, announced the exercises, which were performed 
in the following 



42 

I. Voluntary on the organ. 

II. Reading the Town Charter, by James U. Parker, Esq. 

III. Invocation and Reading the Scriptures, by Rev. J. M. C. Bartley, of Hamp- 
sted. 

IV. Anthem: "Wake the Song of Jubilee." 

V. Prayer, by Rev. Thomas Savage of Bedford. 

VI. The forty-fourth Psalm from Sternhold and Hopkins' version "deaconed," 
two lines at a time, by Rev. William Miltemore, of Litchfield, and sung by the Choir, 
in the manner of olden time : 

"I We with our ears have heard, O God, 
Our fathers have us told. 
What works thou wroughtest in their days, 
Ev'n in the times of old. 

"2 How thy hand drave the heathen out, 
And plante<l ihem thou hast: 
How thou the people didst afflict, 
And out thou didst them cast. 

"3. For by their sword they did not get 
The land possession. 
Nor was it their own arm that did 
Work their salvation ; 

"4. But thy right hand, thine arm also. 
Thy countenance's light; 
Because that of thine own good will 
Thou didst in them delight. 

"5. Thou art our King, O mighty God, 
Thou dost the same endure; 
For Jacob by commandment 
Deliverance procure." 

VII. Address, by Rev. Stephen T. Allen. 

VIII. Original hymn, by Miss Laura Ann Wheeler, of Merrimack ; read by Rev. 
J. G. Davis of Amherst, and sung by the choir: 

One hundred years have passed 

A century has fled ; 
The fathers of our native land 
Are sleeping with the dead. 

They dared a savage foe. 

To build for us a home ; 
The Indian left his native wood 

To give the white man room. 

This day bears ample proof 

Our sires are not forgot, 
Though time within this lapse of years 

Hath many changes wrought. 



43 

We fill their places now; 
We tell our mercies o'er; 
O may the blessings now enjoyed 
Continue evermore. 

God grant us grace divine, 

Lead us in wisdom's way, 
That we in heaven may celebrate 

Our next centennial day; 

IX. Prayer, by Rev. John W. Shepard of South Merrimack. 

X. Benediction, by Rev. William H. Porter of Litchfield. 

The singing performed by the Choir of the First Congregational Society, assisted 
by some singers from the south part of the town, and by Miss Smith at the organ, 
was excelent. 



THE DINNER. 



After the benediction, a large number, both of ladies and gentlemen, again formed 
in procession and repaired to a spacious hall, at the hotel of Mr. J. Nevins, where 
the tables had been spread for dinner. A blessing was implored by Rev. Mr. Milte- 
more. It was delightful to witness and to participate in the quiet and cheerful flow 
of social feeling which followed. Those who had been friends and aquaintances in 
former times were brought together under cirucmstances that would revive the most 
pleasing recollections. And it is due to the host and his lady to say that the tables 
were tastefully arranged, and the provisions rich, varied and abundant. 

After the repast, two or three hours were spent at the tables, in the interchange of 
sentiments, and in addresses, interspersed with songs and other music. 

Robert McGaw, Esq., the President of the Day, led on the way by some spirited 
remarks, and then called on 

Rev. Mr. Savage, of Bedford, who, in his usual felicitious manner, alluded to the 
friendly relations that had for many years subsisted between Merrimack and Bed- 
ford: — said that, for a long time, when Bedford was without a pastor, Dr. Burnap 
was called to attend their weddings and officiate at their funerals; that, in the course 
of events, Merrimack was without a pastor, and he had been called to reciprocate 
the labors of Dr. Burnap. The two towns seemed, as it were, but one parish. It 
gave him great pleasure to be present on this occasion. He beleived the exercises 
of the day could not but be most happy in their influence upon the town. 

Rev. Mr. Davis of Amherst, followed with some timely and exellent lemaik.-, 
upon the character of the early settlers of New England, showing, by a variety of 
facts and illustrations, that it was the Puritan element that had made their descend- 
ants what they are ; that it was their piety that had laid so deep and firm tne founda- 
tions; that to that piety, more than to anything else, we are indebted for those fea- 
tures in the New England character and New England institutions, that are mo.st 
approved and admired; that independently of such piety it is impossible to form 
such characters, — impossible to prepetuate them 

The remarks now became more free and familiar, not that the company were get- 
ting elated by the vulgar stimulants of the cup, for it was a temperance feast ; but 
they were keenly alive to the enjoyment of the "feast of reason and flow of soul" 
which the occasion afforded. 

James U. Parker, Esq., entertained the company, in a cheerful way, with the 
rehearsal of some anecdotes of the olden time, and read a letter from 

Henry T. Ingalls, Esq., of New York, in which, among other things, he said : 
"It would give me great satisfaction to meet again, in the place of my nativity, 



friends who still remain, and others occupying the places of those who have passed 
away, on the interesting occasion to which you allude. But I regret to say that cir- 
cumstances beyond my control deprive me of the privilege. My sympathies will be 
with you. A thousand recollections of early associations are rapidly crossing my 
mind as I write, — some of a pleasing, others of a sad, nature. Many friends, — 
good friends, too, — have passed to the 'dark realms of shade;' while others, — 
thanks to a kind providence, — still remain. 

"Nature, too, in her general outlines, is there in all her former beauty. Though 
not at present wrapped in her mantle of green, the swollen streams proclaim that she 
soon will be. Her noble Merrimack, her lively Souhegan, her hills and vales, with 
their sturdy oaks and majestic elms, and here and there a glorious * o>d hickory' still 
remain. Of the latter, it would seem, there are but few; but I trust there are sprouts 
left, which will, ere long, shoot up in sufficient numbers to overshadow your town 
and state, and give you fresh 'nuts to crack.' 

" Please express to the good people of Merrimack my thanks for their kind remem- 
brance of me, and my best wishes for their permanent prosperity and happiness. 

There were no regular sentiments prepared for the occasion, hut now and then one 
was volunteered. Some of these cannot be recalled, and some others we give in sub- 
stance. 

Sentiment by Samuel McConihe, Esq. 

"The first settlers of this town: — May their memories be cherished, and handed 
down to generations yet unborn." 

Sentiment by Mr. Jacob Burnap. 

"Departed friends; — We loved them, — we Ijve the n still. While we approve, 
may we emulate their excellencies." 

Mr. Bolston, of Amherst, was now called up. He made some very pleasant 
remark^; with regard to the town of Merrimack; — spoke of its past and its present 
character; and in flattering terms alluded to the progress that had been made in the 
cause of temperance, in the enterprise of the inhabitants, and deveiopment of a pub- 
lic spirit. He said: "We have been told that the mme Merrimack signifies stur- 
geon. Now. the sturgeon is a very active ii>h, and sometimes leaps out of water; 
but he is oliliged soon to go back again. He hojied it might he so: that if any in 
the town had forsaken, for a little lime, cold water, they v/ould go back to the natu- 
ral and healthful element." 

Rev. Mr. Miltemore, venerable with years, arose and with deei") emotion, addressed 
the company. He spoke of the associations awakened in his own mind by ihe exer- 
cises of the day, and especially l)y the singing of the Psalm in ancient style; said it 
carried him back to the days of his youth, and lirought up fresh the memories of 
other years. He paid a high and merited tribute to the virtues of the pious dead, 
and expressed the hope that they might live in the lives of their descendants. 

Sentiment by Mr. C. T. Nourse. 

"Our ancestors: — As we glory in being their descendants, may the same impel us 
to copy their virtues." 

Rev. Mr. Porter, of Litchfield, was also called on. He expressed his gratification 
in being permitted to represent a town whose history had been so intimately inter- 
woven with that of Merrimack in former years. In a happy manner he alluded to 
the fact that the two towns were once united under a common charier; settled their 
first minister together ; subsequently had reciprocated the privileges of Christian wor- 
ship and fellowship; and that his own church, in its recent reorganization, was, in a 
areat measure, a colony from the church in Merrimack. 



45 

His remarks called out the following sentiment by Dr. Eaton : 

"Merrimack and Litchfield: — Twin sisters, rocked in the same cradle, but brought 

up in different families : may they ever go forward, hand in hand, in every good 

v/ork." 

The following letter from Hon. Charles H. Atherton was read: 

Amherst, N. H., March 21, 1846. 

" Robert McGaw, Esq. : 

"Dear Sir: Yours inviting me, in the name of the Committee of the town of 
Merrimack, to attend the centennial celebration of its incorporation, was rtceived 
this day. I should rejoice to attend on the occasion, and listen to the address of 
your reverend pastor, which, I doubt not, will be classically cha>te and historically 
interesting. But I regret to say that my heahh does not permit me to mingle in sucii 
celebrations. My heart and best wishes will be with you. I have, from my youth, 
felt an attachment to the town of Merrimack. It was the scene and place of my 
earliest ju venile visits. Your letter seems to imply that I was a native of the town. 
This is not exactly correct. I was born at Amherst, about eight months after my 
father removed from Merrimack. 

" If yoa have nothing better to offer on the occasion, please accept the following 
from me : 

'•The Town of Merrimack: — May the hopes of its early settlers be realized, and 
its prospeiily increased, with the growing usefulness of the river upon whose bai k- it 
ii located, and from which it takes its name. 

" Very respectfully yiuir-, 

C. H. Atherton. 

Sentiment of Robert McGaw, Esq. 

" Home Manufactures: — Let Merrimack improve her water privileges, and she will 
show John Bull that she has no further need of his services in that way." 

Sentiment by Oliver Spalding, Esq. 

"Woman: — The companion of man ; in intellectual culture capable of an equality; 
in society, its life and ornament ; in adversity, a friend; everywhere worthy of the 
high rank which an advancing civilization has assigned to her." 

Judge McConihe, a native of Merrimack, now of Trfy, N. Y., forwarded a com- 
munication for the occasion. Our limits permit us to make only some extracts. After 
speaking of the changes which a hundred years have wrought, converting the wilder, 
ness into fertile fields, and peopling it with a healthy, happy and intelligent popula. 
tion, he says: 

" Here tne people are in the full enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness. Improvements in their condition are continually going on. Every farmer,. 
especially, sees what vast changes have taken place since ilictime when he was a boy 
How much is now done by machinery, which was then done by manual labor; and 
how much more leisure time is now afforded for acquiring an education and general 
knowledge. Every man and every boy, able to perform the duty, had to swing the 
flail, shell the corn on the handle of a frying pan, and break and swingle flax till his 
nose was filled and his clothes covered with dust and swingle-tow. And then the 
women had to pick and card and spin the wool and the flax, on the great and little 
foot-wheels, turn the quill-wheel, and pull and push at the churn handle. Now these 
labors are performed by machines, A great proportion of these machines are the 
inventions of the New Knglandcrs. 

" And this brings me to consider for a moment the moral culture and the character 
of the people, .as the same existed many years ago, and still exist. 

"Merrimack was first settled by farmers. They were open-hearted, generous and 
hospitable. These characteristics are, in my opinion, more predominant among 



46 

agriculturists, than any other class of citizens. They were also industrious, econom- 
ical, moral and religious. But for the cause of these great and good qualities, we 
must mainly look back to the examples and instructions afforded by the mothers and 
wives of the early settlers of this town. They taught to their offspring the principles 
of religion and morality from the Bible, and enforced them by example. 

" The New Englanders, who are frequently called Yankees, are emphatically a 
peculiar people. Descended from the Saxons, they possess all the energy and enter- 
prise of that hardy and intelligent race, and are equally fond of freedom in all its 
phases. It has been my fortune to travel through almost all the states and territories 
in this union, and I never stopped in a city or a village without meetinj a Yankee 
and I always found him engaged in some profitable undenakiag. * * * * 

" After having been tossed and jostled about among strangers, and in strange 
places, like Ulysses, after he had taken away the palladium of Troy, I have at last, 
now, again (spiritually — not bodily — as I intended) revi>ited the place of my nativ- 
ity, with my hair, — what is left, — turned gray, and whether wiser or better, is a 
matter which I will not undertake to determine. 

"This occasion brings to my mind many of the honored and lamented dead- 
Among them was the pious, kind and open hearted Dr. Burnap, who was the first 
settled minister in Merrimack, and who preached in the same mee'ing house a half 
century, and who, as a Christian and scholar, ranked among the greatest and the 
best of the age in which he lived. There, too, beside yon raiiro.id. rest the remains 
of Matthew Thornton, oneof the patriots of the revolution, and a signerofihe Decla- 
ration of Independence, who was an honor and ornament to the town and state in which 
he resided, and to the country which heseivcd. There, too, by lii-- side, rest the bones 
of the generous and talented James Thornton, his son, who, when I was a boy, took 
me to his house, ihere to enjoy, at his expense, the advantages of a good school in 
his neighborhood, declaring that I must and should receive a cpllegiate education. 
Also the McGaws, of a former generation, the Nourses, Ingallses, Danforths, Good- 
riches, Aikens, Gages, Lunds, and a host oT others of that day, — good and valuable 

citizens, have gone to that ' undiscovered country, from whose bourne no traveller 

returns.' There, too, by the side of the old meeting hou-e, repose the mortal 
remains of my venerated parents. It is pleasant to commune with the righteous dead, 
who loved us, and whom we loved: and above all, — the fir>it of all, and the last of 

all, with her on whose knee the first accents of affection were lipsed, — my mot/ier. 

She has gone, I trust, to enjuy an immortality in another and a better world. * * 

"I will barely say to the present generation, go on, as your fathers and mothers 
have done, in teiching and enforcing the princples of religion and morality, and in 
wivincr to all the rising generation a good education. Let every house and every fire- 
side be an academy of useful learning. Let woman have her full and proper sway, 
and generations after generations will grow wiser and better than the former, as each 
passes away." v 

Sentiment volunteered by a lady, and received with applause. 

"Mothers in Merrimack: — May they so instruct their children, that, a hundred 
years hence, their posterity may rise up and call them blessed." 

At the suggestion of some one, papers were passed along all the tables, and the 
sianatures of those present were taken, to be preserved among the records of the 
town. 

The afternoon passed rapidly away, and evening appro.nched; yet many who had 
come there with the intention of addressing the company, had not had the opportu- 
nity. 

Mr. Elijah Buxton drew up a sketch for the occasion, in which he said that his 
father, Elijah Buxton, was a native of Danvers, Mass. At the age of sixteen he went 
to take the place of his grandfather, who was a soldier of the revolution, and in 1786 
came to this town, where he reared a numerous family. 



47 

Mr, B., among other reminiscences, described the old school house, where, in boy- 
hood days, he went to school ; paid an affectionate tribute to his teachers, John Bet- 
ton, John McGaw, Jotham Gillis, Jacob McGaw, Jonathan Buxton, Simeon Kenney, 
Benjamin Taylor, Samuel McConihe ; and closed with expressions of attachment and 
good wishes for the town, which, though it did not give him birth, gave him his 
education, — gave him his wife. 

The following hymn was written for the occasion by Mr. C. T. Nourse of Merri - 
mack : 

O Thou, our God, our fathers' God, 
We come, with votive hearts, to trace 
The fading steps our sires have trod, 
And trim anew the laurel's vase. 

We bring, from memory's hallowed urn. 
Fresh tokens of departed worth ; 
And by their inspiration learn 
To bless their names who gave us birth. 

They sought, beneath Thy guardian wing, 

A shield in peril and in storm; 

Till forest wilds they taught to sing. 

And wastes they decked in beauteous form. 

Here may we sit beneath our vines. 
With nothing but our God to fear; 
And wreath our names in grand designs, 
To flourish when we disappear. 

The tree of freedom spreads above 
A people joyful in thy care; 
Still be their strength, O God of love. 
And spread their blessings everywhere. 

The proposal was made, and received with marked approbation, that all who chose 
should set out a tree, in commemoration of this centennial year. 

The company now arose from the tables, and, while the band was playing, the 
conversation became general. With many a cordial congratulation, and warm grasp 
of the hand, and hearty good night, they separated to their quiet homes, with a 
stronger affection for their native town, a higher veneration for its past generations, 
and a deeper interest in the present. 

CENTENNIAL TREES. 

According to the suggestion above made, a large number of the citizens of the 
town met, by appointment, a few days subsequent to the celebration, each with his 
tree, and implements for planting it, and proceeded to lay out the green about the 
meeting house, and to determine the order and arrangement of the trees. Great 
nains had been taken to secure beautiful and thrifty elms, which were set out in the 
order of the accompanying plan. They are numbered, commencing with number 
one, at the southeast corner of the meeting house lot, and proceeding from right to 
left, and then from left to right. Numbers 59 and 60 stand upon the northerly 
bound of the lot. The sheds for horses prevent the carrying out of the other rows. 

It will be seen that the trees stand in squares. The distance between them, each 
way, is two rods, leaving ample rormi for carriages along the diagonal path from the 
street to the meeting house, each way. 



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THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO PLANTED THE TREES. 

The number against the name corresponds with the number of the tree wliich each 
respectively planted. 



No. 



I 


Reuben Barnes, 2d. 


No. 10 


2 


J. N. Lovejoy, 


II 


^ 


Samuel McConihe, 


12 


4 


Dr. Harrison Eaton, 


13 


s 


Massenah B. McConihe, 


14 


6 


Miss Angeline McConihe, 


15 


7 


Alonzo McConihe, 


16 


8 


John Nevins, 


17 


9 


Samuel Barnes, 


ig 



James A. McKean, 
David T. Jones, 
Jacob Burnap, 
b. S. Chase, 
Samuel C. Nesmith, 
Nathan Parker, 
Henry Parker, 
C. T. Nourse, 
Charles H. Longa, 



49 



No. ig 


Edwin W. Campbell, 


No. 41 


20 


Jaines McKean, 


42 


21 


William McGilvreay, 


43 


22 


Robert McGaw, 


44 


23 


David Jones, 


45 


24 


Reulien Barnes, 


46 


25 


Henry H. Eaton, 


47 


26 


Siiubal Weeks, 


48 


27 


Joseph Henry Wilson, 


49 


28 


James Parker, 


50 


29 


Caleb Jones, 


51 


30 


Frederick A. Bartlett, 




31 


Samuel Campbell, 


52 


3- 


Charles A. Damon, 


53 


33 


Stephen T. Allen, 


54 


34 


George T. Boyson, 


55 


35 


Matthew P. Nichols, 


56 


36 


Lewis Canipliell, 


57 


37 


Joseph B. Nevins, 


58 


38 


John Anderson, 


59 


39 


Mis Mary J. Nevins, 


60 


40 


Real. en H. Pr.itr, 





Joseph Wilson, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson, 
Nathan Wheeler, 
Mrs. Lucy Holt, 
Isaiah Herrick, 
Rufus Blood, 
Mrs. Abby E. Allen, 
James Hale, 
Ebenezer Boyson, 
William Wallace, 
Sarah McGaw Allen, 

(by Catherine Kimball,) 
William W. McKean, 
Jonathan Jones, 
Simeon Kenny, Jr., 
Miss Catherine Kimball, 
Elkanah Phillips Parker, 
Leonard Walker, 
Robert W. French, 
Henry Fretls, 
Joseph Shedd, 



TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE TOWN. 

The town of Merrimack is in the eastern part of Hillsborough county, in lat. 42 
deg. 51 mm : is lK)unded north liy Bedford, east by Merrimack river, — which sepa 
rates it from Litchlieltl, — south by Nashville, west by Amherst, and contains 19,361 
acres. It is 45 miles from Boston, 25 from Concord. 8 from Nashua, and 8 from 
Mmchester. The .Merrimack river waters its eastern border, opening a communica- 
tion by water from this place to Boston. The Concord and Nashua Railroad, which 
passes along the bank of the river, thryugh the whole length of the town, also affords 
j^reat facilities for travel, and the transportation of conmierce. There is a dejiot at 
Reed's Ferry, and also at Thornton's Ferry. There are three postoffices in town ; 
one by the north meeting house, near Souhegan village ; one at Thornton's Ferry ; 
one at S luth Merrimack, or Centreville. Souhegan river enters this town Irom 
Amherst, pursues a winding course, and flows into the Merrim ck near Souhegan 
viUi-.ge. There are some beautiful intervals on this stream, and several fine water 
privileges. One near the mouth of the river has been partially improved ; formerly 
l>y colon factories, which have since been burned; recently by a mill erected for 
\)\^ manufacture of woollen carpets. There are excellent falls of water, from half a 
mile to a mile hi;^her up the stream, that are superior to any other on the Souhegan 
river, and it is a matter of surprise that they have not before this attracted the notice 
of enterprising manufacturers.' 

BaWboosuck Brook, issuing from Babboosiick Pond, in Amherst, empties into Sou- 
hegan River near its mouth ; and Penachook Brook, from a pond in HoUis, forms 
the souib.ern bouiidaiy of the town. 

Tills t'wn presents no remarkable peculiarity of surface. It is generally level, 
Sime p.irts of it are uii<lulating, with fine swells of hard wood land. A considerable 
portion of the hmd is ]ilain,is easily cultivated, and perhaj s with a given amount of 
liib ir, y elds more profit th:in a harder soil, though it is not so good for grazing. 
The li^jhtest soil is well adapted to the growth of rye. which is raised in considerable 
quantities There are some Ueautiful and rich intervals along the Merrimack. 

On the northern border of the town, and in the southern part of Bedford, there 
are large qunlitie'- of excellent clay, and the manufacture of jjrick is a source of 
cou'-iderable wealth. Tht-re are this year, including one yard in the southerly part 
ol Merrimack, eighteen different yards, which employ in the moulding and burning 



50 

of brick not less than one hundred hands, the most experienced of whom receive 
thirty, forty, and some as high as fifiy dollars per month. They consume, in burning 
the brick, about six thousand cords of wood in a year, which, at an average value of 
;?2.50 per cord, would cost $15,000. They manufacture about ten millions of brick 
in a year, which, at ;?6.50 per thousand, bring $65,000. A portion of the brick are 
pressed, and are worth more than twice as much, so that the total value would be not 
less than seventy thousand dollars. These bricks are carted to the river, a distance 
of two to three miles. This furnishes employment to the farmers in the vicinity, 
many of whom keep their teams constantly engaged during the summer. Not less 
than fifty teams are employed in this way. They receive from 4s. 6d. to 6s. per thou- 
sand for drawing. The bricks are then transported in boats to Lowell. 

A large part of the city of Lowell has been built with bricks manufactured in this 
place and in Bedford. 

Merrimack "claims the first discovery, in this region, of making what are called 
Leghorn bonnets. They were first made, several years since, by the Misses Burnap, 
who are deserving of much credit for their enterprise in this species of manufacture. 
Some of their bonnets have been sold at auction in Boston for fifty dollars." 

The name of Merrimack is derived from the river on which it is situated. It is of 
Lidian origin, and signifies sturgeon. The river formerly abounded with great varie- 
ties of fish. 

The tax list for 1749, the first that is on record, embraced twenty-five names, 
which follow, in the order of their valuation, the first paying the highest tax, the last 
the lowest : 



1 William Lund, 

2 |ohn Usher, 

3 Zejhariah Stearns, 

4 I' seph Blanchard, 

5 Jonathan Cummings, 

6 \Vm. McCluer, 

7 Phinehas Underwood, 

8 Timiithy Underwood, 

9 I'eiijaniin Hassell,- 

10 Jonns Barrett, 

1 1 William Patten, 

12 Timothy Taylor, 

13 Samuel Spalding, 



14 Dr. Joseph Barnes, 

15 John Taylor, 

16 Amos Taylor, 

17 Robert Davidson, 

18 Jolin Stearns, 

19 Ephraim Powers, 

20 Wdliam McCluer, Jr., 
2f Eleazer Blanchard, 

22 Elias Taylor, 

23 John Chamberlain, 

24 Joseph Lindali, 

25 Jonathan Bowers. 



In 1759 the number on the tax list was 72. 

Li 1769 there were unmarried men, fro n sixteen to sixty, 31 ; married do. 65 ; 
boys under sixteen, 98; men over sixty, 8; females unmarried, 121 ; married, 65; 
widows, 9; slaves, 3; total, 400. 

There were 104 polls, 377 acres arable land, and 19 acres orchard. 
In 1773, unmarried men, from sixteen to sixty, 50; married do. 82; boys under 
sixteen, 129 ; men over sixty, 8; females unmarried, 170; married, 89; widows, 11 ; 
slaves, 13; total, 552. 

In 1775 population was 606 In 1820 population was 1162 

1790 " 819 1830 " 1 191 

1800 " 926 1840 " 1 1 13 

1810 " I048 

The valuation of the town in 1840 was $430,574. In 1846 it is $470,972. 
The proportion of every thousand dol ar^ of the stiite tax paid i>y the town of 
Merrimack, at various periods, has been a-; follows: I7S9$5.62, 1794 $5.24, 1804 
$4.71, 1808 $4.20, 1812 33 83, 1816 $4.20, 1820 $4.33, 1836 $4 29, 1840 $4.jO, 1844 
$4-79- 



51 

The number of polls in 1840 was 241 ; in 1846, 307. 

The resources and producis of the town, as returned by the census of 1840, were 
as follows: 174 horses, 968 neat cattle, 844 sheep, 551 swine, 213 bushels of wheat, 
147 bushels of barley, 7150 bushels of oats, 4772 bushels of rye, 908 bushels of buck- 
wheat, 6463 bushels of corn, 14,969 bushels of potatoes, 1532 pounds of wool, 1480 
tons of hay. The estimated value of the products of dairy was ;g5,784. There were 
four retad stores, with a capital vested of ^12,400. There were six grist mills, and 
six saw iii.d_. 

LIST OF PROFESSIONAL MEN, ETC. 

The following persons from Merrimack have passed through a collegiate course. 
The college and year of graduation are against the names : 

Jacob McGaw, Dartmouth, 1797; studied law with Thomas W. Thompson, Esq., 
Salisbury. Settltd in Bangor, Me. 

Matthew Thornton, Dartmouth, 1797; son of Judge T.; studied law at Amherst; 
opened an office in this town, and died soon after. 

Horatio Gates Burnap, Harvard University, 1799; engaged some years in teach- 
ing ; now lives in this town. 

^ Timothy F'uUer, Harvard University, 1801 ; many years a distinguished lawyer in 
Boston ; a representative from Massachusetts in Congress. Removed to Grolon, 
Mass., where he died in 1834. 

Isanc McGaw, D.irtmouth, 1807; read law with Jacob McGaw, Esq , Bangor, and 
with T. Jameson. Settled in Windham, N. H. 

Henry Holton Fuller, Harvard University, 1811; now a lawyer in Boston. 

Isaac McConihe, Dartmouth, i8l2; studied law in Troy, N. Y., and has since 
practiced in that city, and been Judge in one of the courts in that state. 

William W. Fuller, Harvard University, 1813 ; a lawyer iu Fayette, Me. 

Elisha Fuller, Harvard University, 1815; commenced practice of law in Concord, 
Mass.; since moved to Worcester. 

James Buonaparte Thornton, Yale; studied law with Judge Chapman, Con. 

George W. Burnap, Harvard Univtrsity, 1824; pastor of the First Independent 
Church, Baltimore, Md. 

Francis Burnap studied law, and is settled in Rockville, Illinois. Abraham Ful- 
ler also studied law, and is now in practice in Boston. William Burns, grad., M. D. 
at Hanover, and practices medicine in Littleton, N. H. 

In the above list, the five of the name of Fuller are sons of Rev. Timothy Fuller, 
who removed from Princeton, and settled on a farm in this town, where he died in 
1805. His monument, in the Centre burying ground, bears the following inscrip- 
tion : 

'• Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Timothy Fuller, 
Pastor of the Church in Princeton. 

" Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed, and this 
mortal must put on immortality. 

"Truth, virtue, piety, his life disnlayed, 
On love divine his soul by faith reposed ; 
Frail nature shrank, but Christ the ransom paid. 
Dispelled the mist, and heavenly bliss disclosed. 

" Manibus date lilia plenis 
Piirpureos spargam florts. — ^'■''^■ 

"Natus 19 May, 1739, o. s. Obiit 3 July, 1805." 



52 



I? 



LTST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BAR WHO HAVE PRACTISED IN THIS TOWN. 

Hon. Joshua Atheiton, father of Hon. C. H. Atherton, and grandfather of Hon. 
C. G. Atheiton, was descended from an ancient family in Dorchester, Mass. He 
was born at Harvard ; graduated at Harvard University, 1762; studied law at Wor- 
cester; first opened his office at Petersham, in 1765; married Abigail Goss, daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Thomas Goss of Bolton; moved to Litchfield in the latter part of 
1765; moved across the river to Merrimack, and opened his office in 1767; here his 
family resided till the beginning of 1773, when he settled at Amherst; there died, 
in March, 1809, aged 72. He was a representative and senator in the General 
Court, and subsequently Attorney General of the State. 

Matthew Thornton, 2d, married Fannie Curtis, of Amherst; died in 1804; left 
two daughters. (See p. 51.) 

Stephen Crooker was a native of Eastown, Mass.; opened his office in Merrimack 
in 1814; married Sarah, daughter of Dea. Aaron Gage; died in 1824, leaving five 
sons. 
* James B. Thornton. (See p. 35.) 

Hon. Tames Underwood Parker, son of Dea. Matthew Parker, of Litchfield, grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College, in 1820; read law with James Packer, P. J. Gilbert and 
A.Rogers; came to Merrimack soon after; married Mary Holkins, of Hanover, 
who died at the age of twenty, and he married Rebecca, daughter of Dea. Augustus 
Lund, of this town. Mr. Parker is this year President of the Senate of New Hamp- 
shire. 

I'HYSICIANS IN MERRIMACK. 

Dr. Joseph Bar nes, from Plvmout h_countY, Mass., was here previous to 1746. 

Dr. HerriTEIery Fudgar was in town in 1766. 

Dr. Allen Tooihaker was here some years, and died June 12, 1775. H^ married 
Esther, daughter of Capt. Benjamin ?'rench. He died young, and his widow mar- 
ried Timothy Taylor, E'-q. 

Dr. Matthew 'rhornton came to tliis tnwn about 1775. (See p. 33.) 

Dr. Charles Proctor came here about 1778. 

Dr. David Norwood, about 1 780. 

Dr. Robert Tnggart, about 1782. 

Dr. Roller Toothaker was here several years subsequent to 1784. 

Dr. Abel Goodrich studied medicine with Dr. Bovvers, ol' Biilerica ; came here in 
1784. He married Mary, daughter o' Dea. Jonathan Cummings ; was elected Fel- 
low of the New Hampshire Medical Society; died in 1841. (See p. 34). 

Dr. Flagg. here in 1807, and aftf r. 

Dr. Peter Manning, n native of Townsend, Mass.; studied medicine with Dr. Car- 
ter, of Lancaster, and Dr. Goodrich ; first settled in Hollis; came to Merrimack pre- 
vious to 1818, and remained till 1841, when he removed to Lowell. He married 
Pllizabeth Kimball, who died in 1833, and he afterwards married Nancy Siearns.- 
He was a member of the District Medical Society. 

Dr. Barnard E. Hoyt, a native of Newfuvn, N. H.. studied with Dr. Gale of N. ; 
attended lectures at Hanover; graduated M. r).,as is supposed, at Brunswick; came 
to Merrimack in 1833; married Ann P. Co'ton ; died July, 1839. He was a mem- 
ber of the District Medical Sncii-ty. 

Dr. Harrison Eaton, a native of Ho]ikinton, N. H., studied with Dr. Call and Dr. 
Cressey; attended lectures at Hanover in 1833 and 1834 ; graduated M. D. at Beik- 
shire Medical Institution. 1836; practiced two years in Weare.and came here, 1839; 
married Cnarlot'e M , drughter of Benjamin Eaton, of Ilojik'nion ; he is a member 
of the District Mediial Society, and in 1842 w,-,s elected Fellow of New Hampshire 
Mjdical Society. 

Dr. WiUi.im V. Mairon. a native of Cbester, N. Y.. stiubrd with I'r. Potter; 
attended lectures in 1840, at Woodstock. \'t . came bete in 1S40; mairied .Saiah 
Ann, (laughter of the late Martin Crooker, of Merrimack. 



53 

Dr. Marshall Merriam, a native of Concord, Mas'?., graduated at Yale College, in 
1832, and graduated M. D. at the Medical College in Philadelphia; practiced ten 
years in Pittsburgh; came thence to this place in 1844. 

A LIST OF THE REPRESENTATIVES FROM MERRIMACK, IN GENERAL COURT. 

John Chamberlain, many years previous to 1775. 

Jacob McGaw, 1775 and 1782. 

Timothy Taylor, 1793 and 1794. 

James Thornton, 1796, 1806, 1808, 1809, 1810, l8l2. 

Simeon Cummings, 1797. 

Samuel Foster, 1800 to 1 805, inclusive. 

Samuel McConihe, 1807, 1833, 1834. 

Daniel Ingalls, 1811, 1815, 1816. 

Henry Fields, 1813, 1814. 

Aaron Gage, Jr., 1817 to 1824, inclusive. 

Henry T. Ingalls, 1825, 1826. 

James B. Thorn'on, 1827 to 1830, inclusive. 

Joseph Litchfield, 1S31, 1832. 

Samuel Barron, 1835, 1836. 

Oliver Spalding, 1837, 1838. 

Francis Odall, 1839, 1840. 

Robert McGavv, 1841. 

Leonard Walker, 1842, 1843. 

James U. Parker, 1844, 1845. 

David Jones, 1846. 

Previous to 1780, Merrimack and Bedford, and sometimes Litchfield, united in 
the choice of a representative. Wiseman Claggett, of Litchfield, was chosen in 
1777 ; Samuel Patten, of Bedford, in 1778; John Orr, of Bedford, in 1779. 

TOWN OFFICERS IN MERRIMACK. 

Aloderators of Annual Town Aleeting. 

John Usher, 1746; Jonathan Cummings, Phinehas Underwood, Joseph Bianchard, 
Dr. Joseph Barnes, Edward G. Lutwyche, John Chamberlain, Jonathan Bianchard, 
William Auld, Thomas Barnes, Simeon Cummings, Matthew Thornton, Sen., Timo- 
thy Taylor, Jacob McGaw, James Thornton, Fir. Ai)el Goodrich, Simeon Kenney, 
Henry Fiel-^s, Daniel Ingalls, Thomas McCauley, Solomon Danforth, Stephen 
Crooker, Solomon DanCorlh. Jr.. Henry T. Ingalls, Samuel McConjhe, Martin 
Crooker, Samuel Barron, Jr., (31iver Spalding, David Jones, Joseph B. Holt. 

Town Clerks. 

Phinehas Underwood, 1746; Joseph Bianchard, Samuel Caldwell, Edward G. 
Lutwyche, Jonathan Cummings, jr., John Neal, Augustus Bianchard, Simeon Cum- 
mings, Jacob McGaw, Ebenezer Parker, Samuel McKeaii, Solomon Danforth, James 
Thornton, Daniel Ingalls, Samuel McConihe, Samuel Fields, Henry T. Ingalls, Sam- 
uel Barron, Jr., Oliver Spalding, Isaac N. Center, Horatio G. Hutchins, [ohn Ander- 
son, Caleb lones. 

Selectmen. 

Phinehas Underwood, John U-^her, Zechariah Stearns, William Lund, [onalhan 
Cummings, William Paiien, Joseph Barnes, Thomas Vickare, James MooVe, John 
Chamberlain, Joseph Bianchard, Wdliam Auld, Charity Lund, Thomas Barne«, Sam- 
uel Caldwell, James Minot, John McClench, Timothy Taylor, Samuel Spalding, 
Benjamin Baxter, Solomon Hutchin-on, Jonathan Cummings, Jr , John Neal, Huuli 
kamsey, Augustus Blancliaid, Ebenezcr Nichols, Henry Fields, Jacob McGaw, 



54 

Simeon Cummin's, William Wallace, Ebenezer ilills, Stephen Wilkins, William 
Barron, Benjamin Vickare, Matihew Thornton, Samuel Foster, Marstin 
Fields ' Ebenezer Parker, Jotham Giliis, Zacheus Walker, Solomon Danforth, 
James'cilmore, Samuel McKean, James Combs, Aaron Gage, Samuel Spalding, Jr., 
Cornelius Barnes, Samuel Cotton, James Lund, Benjamin Nourse, John Aiken, 
Simeon Kenny, Daniel Ingalls, Nathan Parker, Robert McGaw, Sam'l McConihe, 
Sam'l Fields, Sam'l Barron, Cosmo Lund, Aaron Gage, Jr., Solomon Danforth, Jr., 
Thomas McCauley, John Conant, Abel Goodrich, Sam'l Barron, Jr., Levi Wilkins, 
Martin Crnoker, Daniel L. Herrick, John P. Wallace, Francis Odali, Oliver Spal- 
ding, Jr., James McCauley, Jona. Barron, David Jones, Joseph N. Gage, Leonard 
Kendall, Jr., Augustus Cragin, Joseph B. Holt, Joseph Barnes, Wm. B. Wheeler, 
Obadiah Marlan°d, Ephraim W. Livingston, Leonard Walker, Elkanah P. Parker, 
Wm, McKean, John Gilson, Edward Wheeler, Dan'l Moore, Jr., Daniel T. Ingalls, 
James Paiker. 



The amount of money appropriated to the public schools in town last year was 
$615.50. The number of scholars attending was 362. A superintending school 
Lommittee is annually appointed, who examine teachers, visit schools, and make 
their report, which is printed by the town, — and they are paid for their services. 
The number of distiicts is twelve: 

No. I. Centre of town. No. 7. Robbins' Mills. 

" 2. Gage District. " 8. Goodrich District. 

«' 3. Reed's Ferry. " 9. Souhegan Village. 

" 4. Thornton's Ferry. " lo. N. W. corner of town. 

" 5. Pond District. "11. Eayres District. 

" 6. Parish District. " 12. Centrevilie. 

CONFESSION OF FAITH AND COVENANT OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 

IN MERRIMACK. 

Articlei of Faith. 

1. We believe that there is but one true God, who is the Creator, Preserver and 
Governor of the universe ; and that he is eternal, unchangeable and infinite in every 
natural and moral perfection. 

2. We believe that the Scriplures of the Old and New Testament were given by 
inspiration of God, and that they are our only perfect rule of doctrinal belief and 
religious practice. 

3. We believe that God is revealed in the Scriptures as the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost, one in essence, and equal in every attribute and honor. 

4. We believe that God has made all things for him-elf; that known unto Him 
are all thini^s from the beginning; that He governs all things according to the coun- 
sel of His own will. 

e We believe that the divine law, and the principles and the administration of 
the divine aovemmeiit, are perfectly holy, just and good, and that all raiional crea- 
tures are bound to obey and honor them. 

6. We believe that God at first made man in His own image, in a state of holi- 
ness • but man fell from that state by eating the forbidden fruit; and that in conse- 
quence of that sin, all the posterity of Adam are by nature destiiute of holmess. 

7. We believe that Christ, the Son of God, has, by his obedience, sufferings and 
death made a full atonement for sin ; that he is the only Redeemer of sinners, and 
that he now offers salvation to all on condition of faith and repentance. 

8. We believe that such is the sinfulness of human nature, that none will come 
to Christ, except they are drawn by the special influence of the Holy Spirit. 

Q. We believe that those who embrace the gospel were chosen in Christ before 
the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before him 



55 

in love : and that they are saved not by v/orks of righteousness which they have 
done, but by the free and distinguishing mercy of God, through sanctification of the 
Spirit and belief of the truth. 

10. We believe that those who embrace the Gospel, although they may fall into 
sin, never will be left finally to perish. 

11. We believe that all mankind must one day stand before the judgment seat 
of Christ, to receive a just and final sentence of retribution according to the deeds 
done in the body ; and that at the day of judgment the state of all will l^e unaltera- 
bly fixed ; and that the punishment of the wicked and happiness of the righteous 
will be eternal. 

12. We believe that Christ has a visible Church on earth, into which none, in 
the sight of God, but real believers, and none, in the sight of men, but visible believ- 
ers, have a right of admission. 

13. We believe that the sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper ; that believers in regular standing of the Chu rch, only, can consist- 
ently partake of the Lord's Supper; that visible believers and their household only 
can be admitted to the ordinance of baptism ; and that it is the duty, as well as the 
privilege, of the former, to dedicate their nouseholds to the Lord in this ordinance. 

Covenant. 

In the fear of God you are now to attend to his most gracious Covenant, and may 
you, by the help of His grace, give a sincere and full assent thereto. 

Covenant. You give up yourself to God the Father, Son and Moly Spirit ; choos- 
ing the Lord Jehovah as your God, Jesus Christ as your Pro|)ln;t, Priest and King, 
and only Saviour, the Holy Ghost, as your Sanctifier, Guide an<l Comforter: prom- 
ising, by the aid of divine grace, to observe His Word and Ordinances, honor His 
name, reverence His Sabbaths, to walk in the way of His holy requirements, seek 
the prosperity of His kingdom, and devote yourself and possessions to His service: 
— You submit yourself to the discipline of Christ in this His Church, and engage to 
attend regularly on the worship of God in public, in your families and m secret; and 
in all things to study to live as becomes the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. 

This you covenant and promise. 

On your thus professing and promising, we receive you as a member of this His 
Church, and admit you to the full enjoyment of all its privileges, promising, through 
divine grace assisting us, to aid you in the duties of a Christian life by our prayers 
and practical watchfulness; expecting in return the same offices from you, that the 
purposes of this holy covtnant may be answered. 

The Lord make us faithful to Himself and to each other. 

There is a Society associated with the church entitled the "Merrimack Religious 
Society,"' which assumes the pecuniary responsibility of supporting the Gospel. Its 
annual meeting, according to the constitution, is on the first Monday in May. To 
defray the expenses of the parish, subscriptions are first solicited from those who do 
not belong to the Society, and then a tax is levied on the members of the Society. 

In 1837 they abandoned the old house, which had been occupied as a place of 
worship over 80 year-;, and erected a neat and commodious meeting house, which is 
located upon the river road from Manchester to Nashua, near Souhegan village. 
The dimensions of the house are 40 by 60 feet. The cost of it was $3,000. It con- 
tains 66 slips, and the orchestra is supplied with an organ. 

AnDlTlONAI. NOTICES OF SOMK FAMILIKS THAT WERE EARLY IN TOWN. 

Aiken, Lt. John, brother of Dea. I'hinehas, of Bedford, settled on a farm now 
owned by Nathan Parker, Jr., before 1790, — had 12 children, — and was a man dis- 
tinguished for his and industry rectitude. 

Atthh, William, one of the earliest in town, lived on the farm of the late Joseph 
Nichols. His children were, — William, born 1747, Lettis, James, Hannah, John 
Benjamin, Jean, Sarah. 



56 

Arhuckle, William, settled on farm owned by Mr. Rufus Blood, previous to 1748. 
He built the house weit of Mr. Blood's. Was from north of Ireland. 

Barron, Samuel, in town in 17S0, — married Sibell, daughter of Dea. Jonathan 
Cummings, Jr. His father, Cant. Moses, was one of the first settlers in Bedford; 
went there from Chelmsford, Mass., previous to 1740. A son of his was the first 
male child born in Bedford. The children of Samuel were four sons and one daugh- 
ter. His son, Samuel, Jr., married Anne Moore, and now lives in town. 
'yy^a,^arnes, Lt. Thomas, from Plymouth Co., Mass., settled where Mr. George Boyson 
•^ now lives, previous to 1746; had four sons and five daughters. Dr. Joseph Barnes, 
brother of Thomas, was the first physician in town, and was the father of Lieut. 
Reuben, whose children now live here. . - ■• ^ ' ■ , 

Cunimings, Dea. yonathan, from Dunstalile, born 1703, was one of the earliest 
settlers. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Joseph Blanchard. Among his 
children were Benjamin, born in 1732, Simeon and Jonathan. Simeon was Justice 
of the Peace and an influential citizen. He had mills at Atherton's Falls, long 
known as Cummiugs' mills. He married Hannah Bowers. Dea. Jonathan, Jr., 
married Deborah Russell — had eleven sons and five daughters — lived near where 
Mr. Reuben H. Pratt now lives — often held town offices, and was a useful citizen. 

Danforth, Dea. Solovion, from Billerica; born 1756; came to Merrimack in 
1776 ; married 1781, to Saiah, daughter of Simeon Cunimings, E?q. He was many 
years an active man in town business; lived on the farm now owned by Dr. Mer- 
riam ; had twelve children, three sons and nine daughters, who were all excellent 
singers, and who, in connection with the twelve children of Deacon Nourse, formetl 
a considerable part of the singing choir for many years. 

Eayies, IVilliam, son of Joseph Eayies, who was born in Londonderry, 1728, 
WilUiam was borm, in Dunstable, (now Nashua,) 1764; came to Merrimack in 
1780; married Hannah Foster, of Millord ; died 26th March. 1846, aged 82. He 
was remarkable for his industry, strict integrity, meekness and humility. Pew labor- 
ing men have treasured up more of the Sacred Scriptures, or are beiler versed in 
general history. 

Farwell, Lieut. O/zwr, from Tyngsborough, in 1761 ; at an early period kept a 
public house where Mr. J. B. Holt now keeps. His wife, Abigail, lived to be almost 
a hundred years old. The family was among the wealthy and infiuential inhabi- 
tants. Fifty years ago the first one-horse waggon was brought into town. Chaises 
were owned only by Farwell, Judge Thornton, Dr. Burnap, J. McGaw, and Deacon 
G.ige. 

Fields, Marstin, began where Mr. Elijah Averill now lives. Henry, at Mr. Seav- 
erns', (Fields' Bridge.) Joshua, at the place of the late Joseph Litchfield. John, at 
Mr. Colburn's farm. They were brothers, and came Irom Andover in 1771 and 
1772. , - 

Foster, Samuel, was many years a prominent citi/en. He lived in the hou'^e next 
south of Mr. Samuel Barron's. 

Gage, Aaron, came from Bradford, Mass , 1773 ; was the father of Deacon Aaron 
Gage, and the grandfather of Aaron Gage, Esq., now of this town. His descend- 
ants are numerous. Deacon Gage married Martha Stephens, of Andover ; wa-^ a 
regular, upright citizen, remarkably constant at meeting. He reared a respectable 
family of ten children, many of whom now live in this town and Bedford. 

Gillis, Hugh, with his younger brother, Thomas, came from the north of Ireland. 
He married Sarah Arbuckle, sister of William, settled in Merrimack in 1746. His 
children were Thomas, Josiah, Jonathan, Jotham, Rachel, Sally and Betsey. Thomas 
lived with his father on the place known as the " Gillis farm," and left two chil- 
dren, John and Nancy Quigly. John died in 1845 ; was the father of Mark, Thomas 
and Charles Gillis, in Nashua, and David and Horace, in Manchester. Joiham, son 
ol Hu^^h, now livc^ ai I'iscataqucag, and is in his ninetieth year. 



57 

Sarah Arbuckle, wife of Hugh Gillis, was a strong woman, both in mind and 
body. She died Feb. 20th, 1829, aged lOl years and 7 months. On the day she 
was 100 years old her pastor preached at her house. She retained, andwas able 
afterwards to repent, portions of the discourse. When she was about 18, during the 
Indian war, she was left with her mother and little brothers and sisters, her father 
and elder brothers having joined the army. One morning, while engaged in making 
"hasty pudding" for breakfast, she was called to the door by a loud knock, and was 
not a little alarmed at the sight of a fierce-looking Indian. By signs, he made 
known that he was wounded, and wanted refreshment. Her sympathies were 
aroused. She dressed his wound, and he remained till he wns well. S<mie months 
after a party of Indians suddenly burst into the house, seized and bound her broth- 
ers, and one, with a yell, had raised his tomahawk to strike her, when another Indian 
appeared ; a few words were spoken in their language, and they instantly released 
their prisoners and departed quietly. Their preserver proved to be the Indian for 
whom she had acted the Samaritan. 

Herrick, Daniel L., son of Josiah Herrick, of Wenham, Mass., came to Merri- 
mack in 1802; married Hannah Weston, of Mount Vernon. Herrick is a D.inish 
name. The family trace their genealogy back to the eleventh century, when their 
ancestor came from Denmark to England. The ancestor of the numerous families 
in this country settled in Salem or its vicinity at a very early jieriod. 

Harris, Ebenezer and Azariah, sons of Ebenezer, of Dunstable, settled in the 
south part of the town about 1795. 

A'/Z/f, ^(JfWfs^r, married Elizabeth Hassell, and came to town m 1752 or 1753. 
His children were Stephen, born 1754, Ebenezer, Joseph, Lydia. Benjamin and Eliz- 
abeth. The farm on which he settled is now in possession of Mr. Joseph Hills, son 
of Ebenezer, Jr. 

Ingalls, Dea. Daniel, son of Henry, came from Andover in I7qi ; married Mary, 
daughter of Cornelias Tarhell, Esq. ; had four daughters, — Polly, Sarah, Elizabeth, 
Rebecca, — and three sons, Daniel T., Henry T., and Putnam. As a town officer, 
and an officer in the Church, he shared a large degree of public confidence, and was ■ 
a useful citizen. 

Kenny, Simeon, son of Simeon Kenny, of Middletown, Mass.; fitted for Sopho- 
more class in college at Byfield ; came to Meirimnckin 1797; married Lydia A. 
Peabody, of Middletown. He has had under his instruction over 700 different 
pupils, many of them in the languages and in surveying. 

Lund, William, son of Thomas of Dunstable, was born 1686; married Rachel 
; was carried captive by the Indians 1723; died 1768, aged 81. His chil- 
dren were William, born 17 17, Rachel, Charity and Mary. Among the children of 
William, 2d, was Dea. Augustus Lund, who married Johannah Smith, and had two 
sons and three daughters. The children of Charily were Stephen, born 1754, Lucy, 
Elizabeth, Rachel, Charity, Sarah, John, Hannah, James, Cosmo, Jeruthmeel and 
Wdliam. John, the last survivor of the sons, died last September, aged 80. He 
married Mary Chambers. 

McConihe, John, was born in Argylshire, Scotland, and removed thence with his 
parents to the north of Ireland ; had four brothers and three sisters ; married in Ire- ' 
land and came to America with the first settlers of Londondeny; removed thence 
with his two sons, John and Samuel, to Merrimack ; was then an aged man, and 
died before 1760. John 2d, had three sons— Samuel, now of this town, Isaac, of 
Troy, N. Y., and John, who lately lived on the old homestead. He fell from the 
beams in his barn, Sept. 14, 1840, and survived but a few hours. Samuel had four sons, 
— John, James, Samuel and Hugh, — who are all dead, but their descendants are 
among us. 

McChire, William, one of the Scotch-Irish settlers, was in town, and had a son, 
William, old enough to be taxed in 1749. William 2d married a sister of William' 



58 

Arbuckle ; had two sons, William and Tohn. William 3d married Rebecca, sister 
hL^rce?or" ^'' "" ^'^ ^"''*'" ^'^' ^^° ""^ "^^« °» '^e farm of 

ni^' f 'i?:,f^T^' "^^^ '"'"■"^'^ ,^"2- S- '773. 10 Margaret Orr, daughter of Mr. John 
Orr of Bedford and sister of Hon. John Orr. His children are John, Margaret. 
Jacob, Robert, Rebecca, Isaac, Martha. John Orr, Sen., the father of M s. MeS 
was one of the hrst settlers in Bedford. He married Margaret Hamel. Theiborh 
died m one week, of the yellow fever, in 1752. Robert McG.iw, now of his town 
married Sarah, daughter of Wm. Morrison, D. D., of Londonderry. ' 

NounCyDia. Benjamin, a native of Danvers, Mass., was of Welch descent his 
ancestors having come from Wales, and settled in Salem, at an Vary ,S He 

F^'' heif nfT'f '" 'l^\' ""'' "'^^"■'^'' ^^"'^' '^^ ^^"ghter of Coriie ius Tarbell, 
E.q., then of this town ; had six sons an<l six daughters. They were all fine vocal 
sts. Says one of their number. "The children of Dr. Buinap^nd of his five con- 
teniporary Deacons, were numerous, the whole number being 63; viz.. Dr. Burnao 
T ^f^:^'<!r• G^»«\.'°.^^a ^anfonh i2.Dea.Nourse lat Dea. Lund 9 Dea 
Ingalls 7. Most o. this number grew up simultaneously to manhood, and occupied a 
considerable space in the social features of the to«n for many years. Perham all 
the descendants of these men would people a town." Dea. Nourse was a Justk:e 

Parker, ^o(ha»,^on of Matthew, and grandson of Rev. Thomas Parker, of Dra- 
cut. Mass. Rev 1 homas was the son of Josiah, of Cambridge, was born Dec 7 
1700; graduated at Cambridge 1718; settled in Dracut 1721 ; died March 18 n't\' 

Nathan married Mary McQuesten, and came to this town April. 1798. On the 
76th anniversary of his birth, Jan. i, 1843, his children and grandchildren, just fifty 
in number, were al together around the paternal fireside. They are all sineerf 
and the harmony of voices, as also the harmony of feeling, that has always existed 
among them rendered the occasion deeply interesting. Since that time the numbe 
of descendants has increased to fi ty-eight, viz., eighteen children, including tZse 
HveTnThi?town. ^■"'"' grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.' Most of them 

y.v^v^^"\^'t\^i!l^''""' "^K" "t^"* Elizabeth; children were Mary, born 1740, 
William, Rachel. Margaret. John, Jane, Martha. ^ '* ' 

Stearns, Zechariah, was in town in 1746; lived north of Mr. Holt's tavern: was 
it^^o^rtoTe'Sstn^^ •" ^""- ""''"'^^' ^^-•' J^'"' «-' N^'^- «- ^'5 

Spalding, Samuel, born in Chelmsford. Mass.. Feb. i, 1726; was one of the first 
settlers in Mernmack, where he owned a large tract of land north and wes of nS ■ 
cook pond, from which he gave several of his sons farms of one hundred acres each 
VIZ. Samuel Oliver. Silas and Asa. He was lieutenant and served in New Vor J in 
the Continental army for a long time. He diedi n Merrimack, Sept. 11. 1797 aged 
71 years; married Sarah Wood*, of Chelmsford. May 3, 1753. She died in Me?M 
mack of spotted fever. April 10, 1815. aged 85 years'^ 'rheirfamUy burialTs at he 
old meeting house ^. Their children were Samuel, Abijah, Sarah. Henry, Oliver 
Isaac. Silas Asa. The gun he bore in the Revolutionary army in nVw York I, in 
possession of Capt, Ira Spalding, / * st» luiKiam 

Thornton, Matthew, had five children, namely, James. Matthew Andrew Pnllv 

who married Silas Betton.) Hannah, (who mSried JohTEw ) Jamerhid 

three sons. Matthew, Thomas and James Buonaparte, and two daughters. A sJn 



59 

of James B, is the only male descendant of Judge T. that now survives to bear his 
name. 

IVilsoHy yacobt came from Billerica, Mass. His sons were Jacob, Jonathan, Reu- 
ben and Jesse. Jonathan was the father of Dea. Joseph, who now lives on the old 
farm. 

In making a hasty sketch of som« o' the eirly families, I have only used materials 
that incidentally came to hand. Ii it is not as full, and does not embrace as many 
families as it ought, it is because I have not had the means ofextending it. 

Among the names of those who settled on the north side of the S >uhegan river, 
from 1740 to 1755, and who have not lieen already mentioned, are Thomas McLaugh- 
lin, Patrick Taggart, John Rohy, (who lived where Mr, Kevins' tavern is.) Robert 
Gilinore, Joseph Farmer, (who first settled the (arm where Robert McGaw now 
lives,) James Moore, Rolierl Nesmith, Robert McCormack, John McClench, John 
Burns. James Cowan, Thomas Wallace, Thomas Vickare, 'who lived where Mr. 
Isaac Snedd now lives nd a numerous family of sons.) Alexander McAiiley, (who 
lived on what is now the "town farm"— his son, Lt. Alexander, also lived there,) 
Alexander Miller, James M not, David Thornton, William Thornton, David Smith, 
(who first settled the farai of Nathan Parker, Sen.) Ten or fifteen years later we 
find the names of John McGilvreay and Richard Hale, whose descendants are 
among us, 

A Targe numbei of the early settlers on the north side of the Souhegan were 
descended from the Scotch Presbyterians, who, in the leign of James, were estab- 
lished in the north of Ireland ; but, disliking that country, they sought a home in 
America. The first party came over in 1718, and for many ye\rs others continued 
to follow. They brought with thrm the art of manufacturing linen, and of weaving; 
and they first introduced the culture of the potatoe in this part of America. 



6o 



TABLli OK ArORTAMTY. 



1 


•—> 








rt 

s 


3 


"5 
►-1 


< 


a. 



25 






I8I9 


2 


2 


3 


I 


I 


2 


I 


I 




2 




15 


1820 


2 


3 






.1 


I 






9 


4 I 


I 


22 


1824 


I 


6 


I 


I 


I 


I 


4 


2 




3 


4 




24 


1825 


4 


3 


2 




2 


I 


3 


3 


4 


3 


2 




27 


1826 


3 




3 




I 


2 




I 


2 




I 




13 


1827 


3 


3 


I 


2 


I 


I 




3 




2 


I 




■i? 


1828 


5 




2 


I 


3 




4 


2 




3 


3 


1 


24 


1829 


I 


3 


3 


3 




I 


2 




I 


2 


I 


I 


18 


1830 


2 


2 


3 


2 


2 




3 


2 






I 




17 


I83I 


2 


5 


4 




^ 


2 




I 


I 


6 




I 


23 


1832 


2 


I 




9 


I 


3 


5 


2 




3 




I 


27 


1833 


5 


I 




I 


2 






5 


II 




I 


2 


28 


'834 


2 




2 


4 




^ 


2 


I 


I 


3 


I 


4 


21 


183s 


4 




2 


I 


3 


' 




4 


3 


I 




I 


19 


i836 




3 


3 


I 


2 




I 


I 


2 


6 


2 


2 


23 


1837 






3 


2 








3 




I 


I 


I 


II 


1838 


I 


6 




2 


2 


I 


3 








2 




21 


1839 


I 


1 






2 


2 


3 






2 


I 




1 
20 1 


1840 


2 


3 


2 




1 


2 




I 


2 


I 


4 




18 
































42 


42 


34 


3° 


26 


20 


31 


36 


36 


40 


28' 


23 


388 



The alwve table is prepared from a record kept \iy the late Dr. Goodrich. The 
whole number oi deaths in town, as above, for 19 year-^, was 388. This number 
includes several strangers who died in town, as well as those residents of the town 
who were temporarily absent. The highest number was in 1833, — 28. The lowest 
in 1837, — II. The average number per annum, after deducting s' rangers, was 20, 
being about one to every 56 of the population. ( )ne lived to be over loi ; 5 were 
between 90 and 100; 28 between 80 and 90; 28 between 70 and 80; 29 between 
60 and 70 ; 19 between 50 and 60 ; 3^ between 40 and 50 ; 35 l)etween 30 and 40 ; 
41 between 20 and 30; 27 between 10 and 20; 124 below ten years old. Age 
unknown, 24. 

"Widow McClench, not included in the table above, lived to be 100 years old, and 
several of the early settlers exceeded 90 years. 

It is believed that the location of the town is favorable to health and longevitv. 
Malignant fevers have never prevailed here, as in many river towns; nor is con- 
sumption as frequent as in more damp and more bleak locations. 



Let' 



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